Creative Approach to Myths
by itoneer
Summary: A month after the Doomsday, Jin and Makoto are sent to investigate a strange anomaly in Japan and end up in the Eastern Land of Fantasy. How will this affect the battle of wits between NOL and Izanami? Moreover, what will happen to Gensokyo when a particularly vengeful green-haired man appears? Rating might change to M in the future.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey everybody, my first attempt at fanfiction here and it's already a crossover. Hope you'll enjoy it ^^ Anyway, please R&R!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or Blazblue**

Edit: Slightly rewrote and expanded the chapter to make it more in style with the rest.

* * *

"So? What are the results?"

"Inconclusive, Professor. We'd have to sent a team down there to investigate."

"Shit. Who knows what she might be doing... Whatever. Make formal orders out of it, slap the Imperator's seal on them and send them to 'Mr Hero' and Makoto."

"Should I inform the Invictus?"

"He didn't get that position yet, but yes. Who knows if he doesn't come and bitch about it."

* * *

 **\- AD 2200/2/29 4th Hierarchical City [Naobi], NOL branch -**

A month has passed since those disastrous events at [Ibukido]. The NOL has been slowly rebuilding since Sa-... no, Hades Izanami resigned as Emperor... and took hundreds of thousands of lives with her, along with _nii-san_. First she stole Saya's body, and now him... _Tch_. _It's not like we can do something about it now._ We needed to make sure civilization wouldn't collapse. That's what I've been tasked with... After my, Makoto's and Noel's reinstatement as NOL officers, all of us were immediately promoted and assigned to fill in various posts around the Hierarchical Cities, with me overseeing construction of power plants here in [Naobi] to replace now absent seithr with long-forgotten electricity, Makoto clearing up the mess Hazama left in Intelligence and Noel trying to get the Embryo under control. _Still... Why does Izanami need him... Is it about his Grimoire? His connection to Saya? Or maybe it's about that lab back from then..._

"Lieutenant Colonel." _Ugh. Now_ _what?_

Looking up from the desk, I noticed my temporary assistant, Lieutenant Ellen Nelson, carrying a sealed document of some sort. _I still find it amusing how she ended up here after Kagutsuchi..._

"What is it, Lieutenant Nelson?" I said.

"A message from the top, supposedly urgent." she said, placing the document on my desk. _Imperator's seal... What could be this important?_

"Orders, sir?" she asked after I broke the seal.

"... Dismissed, Lieutenant." I waved her off and once more read through my orders, hearing the clattering of her heels against the wooden floor as she left the office.

'Lieutenant Colonel Jin Kisaragi,

A large electromagnetic disturbance has been detected in Japan.  
It might be related to late Shūichirō Ayatsuki's [District 1]  
laboratory. You will be investigating this disturbance along with  
Intelligence's First Lieutenant Makoto Nanaya. Detailed information  
will be given in a briefing at 1630 hours in the meeting room no. 6.'

 _Electromagnetic disturbance... Kokonoe must have been the one who found it. Never mind that though, now I need to prepare more documents..._

* * *

After preparing documents for the next overseeing officer for Naobi's aptly-named [Re-electrification Project], I went for the meeting. Of course, the squirrel beastkin was already waiting in front of the room.

"Hey, Jin! How's it been? Therapy's going smoothly?" she asked, waving her hand towards me.

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't ask me such private questions while we're technically still on duty." I said. _How did she- ah, yes. Kagura and his loose tongue..._

"Fine, fine. Anyways, aren't you interested in what can be there in District 1?"

"Why should I be? We've got an assignment and we need to complete it. Simple as that. The Project is much more important."

"Always the same thing with you, Jin. I sometimes wonder why can't you just take it easy once in a while."

"Speaks the one who has now half of the Intelligence under her." I said in a deadpan tone.

"Oh, shut up." she said, pouting.

"Hello there, Makoto, Jin." we heard from behind and turned around around to see Hibiki Kohaku, Kagura's personal assistant. _Not much of a wonder, considering he's much more competent than his superior._

"Hey, Hibiki. Will you be giving the briefing or we'll be waiting for Kokonoe?" Makoto asked with her usual tone.

"No, she told me to start without her. Please, enter." he replied as he opened the door. The three of us entered the meeting room, which was pretty much in style with the rest of the branch - pale white walls decorated with NOL crests, large violet banners, sturdy-looking furniture - and took seats by the large oak table in the middle of the room.

"So, how much do you know about District 1?" Hibiki asked while sorting through his notes, charts and such. _Just seeing a stack of paper this high reminds me of the sleepless nights back in Academy..._

"A Japanese scientific complex from which the Black Beast emerged in 2100, specifically from the Cauldron in Shūichirō's and Relius' lab. Was struck by a time-distorting phenomenon. Place where the Lynchpin was created. Did I miss anything?" Makoto said, as if reciting from memory. _She definitely changed from what was back in the Academy..._

"That's pretty much it in a nutshell. The thing is, recently Sector Seven has discovered some strange electromagnetic fluctuations in central Honshū. Since those fluctuations weren't there until the Lynchpin was activated, we're certain that they are related to the seithr that was constantly released from District 1's Cauldron."

"So," I said, "we'll be going into a run-down facility to find something that might not even have a logical explanation?"

"Depends on what you consider 'logical'." Kokonoe said as she entered the meeting room, in her usual white labcoat and with a mug of coffee. "How much you've covered already, Hibiki?"

"We've just started."

"Great. I'll be taking over then." she said as she sat besides Hibiki. "It's not an EMP device or anything like that, if that's what you're thinking, squirrel. It better not end up to be some kind of WMD developed by Relius and my bastard of a grandfather, the Beast was enough."

"Says someone who kept a nuclear silo in her own lab..." Makoto muttered quietly, which made Kokonoe glare at her.

"Then we have such options: an Intervention, some kind of seithr-locked weapon, or..." I said, looking at Makoto and waiting for some input.

"...Well, maybe it is Relius? We still don't know where did he go after the Doomsday. Maybe he's trying to restart his other projects..."

"I don't think so. Rachel said that after Valkenhayn kicked his ass all across the Lynchpin storage area, he doesn't even have the will to live." Kokonoe said. So it really seemed to boil down to a yet-unactivated weapon... or something worse, if Izanami's involved.

"In this case, don't you think that we'll need an escort of some sorts? Especially if it's a terrorist group or something." Makoto said. A solid argument, after the Lynchpin's activation a good amount of of non-Hierarchical establishments ended practically in medieval, so people would understandably revolt.

"Nah, you'll be fine." Kokonoe responded with a handwave. "I'll get you an assault rifle or two from the Sector, that should be enough for you two. Or do you want to check them out yourselves?" she added with that cat-like smile.

"Nope, nothing like that." Makoto hurriedly said, waving her hands defensively. _I wonder what did she get through to respond like that..._

"Anyway," Hibiki said, reminding us of his presence in the room, "you'll be dropped off in the Tokyo Bay in a week, then you'll make for District 1. Makoto, you'll be tasked mainly with making in-depth area scans, mainly near the Cauldron and Shūichirō's hidden laboratory. Jin," he turned to me "your main objective will be to escort Makoto and, if needed, use Yukianesa to search for any Nox-class weapons."

 _So I've been reduced to escort duty. Funny, I thought that the 'Hero of Ikaruga' won't have to do such menial jobs._ Then again, Imperator Homura did make a point in admitting the whole Ikaruga Civil War to be a genocide by any other name. _Back on the topic,_ _Yukianesa hadn't responded after the [Doomsday], so even if Nox Nyctores-class weapons resonate with each other, how should we know if we bump into one?_ I voiced my last concern, which made Kokonoe frown a little.

"If it is a Nox-class, which I highly doubt, unlike some overly paranoid people," - she said, glancing at Hibiki - "then it would need enough seithr for it to operate. But you'll get to that when you scan the Cauldron, so there's no problem with that. So, any other questions or do we get to the technical side of this shit?" Kokonoe said, apparently bored with the whole briefing.

* * *

 **\- 2200/02/31 NOL airship inbound to Tokyo -**

I once again looked over my equipment for the mission. A heavily modified HK416 assault rifle with 5 spare magazines, a P228 with 3 Parabellum magazines, a detailed map of Honshū with major communication routes, a week's worth of rations, the pills that Kokonoe had me taking since [Doomsday] and, of course, Yukianesa. My greatest memento of Saya... and possibly one of the first signs of Izanami's manipulation of her mind, now just a lifeless piece of scrap metal. _I know it's somehow related to that gap in my memory - Rachel_ _confirmed that those gaps are Terumi's work. One of the few things that I can remember from the time when the three of us lived in that church is my goal of freeing nii-san from his fate... I didn't make it, and now he's forced to live the_ _rest of his short and pitiful life as a puppet for that death-obsessed bitch... I wonder though, Rachel said he went into the forming Embryo, but she hasn't_ _said a word yet about how me and Tsubaki are supposed to kill him, aside from using [Immortal Breaker] on her if my brother dies on his own... I still_ _shudder in pain when I think about that fight when his Grimoire went haywire... that primal aggression dictating his movements and attacks, just like the Beast's... Nevertheless,_ _we..._ _ **I**_ _must kill him, no matter-  
_

The sound of knocking pulled me out of my inner monologue.

"...Enter."

"Hey Jin, ready for dropoff?" Makoto said, entering my cabin. "We'll be in Tokyo in 10 minutes, so it's high time we packed up so we can enjoy the scenery!"

"Tch. What's supposed to be interesting in this big pile of rubble? Don't think as if it's going to be an adventure in an unknown land or something."

"Why are you always such a killjoy? Try to look on he bright side of life. Maybe when you and Tsubaki get married, you'll take her on a honeymoon here? After all, Japan is - was, at least, famous for it's cherry blossoms. A real sight to behold~" she said with a smile.

"You don't need to remind me, the Yayoi household has quite a few specimens. But now we need to focus on the matter at hand."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Makoto responded somewhat dejectedly and walked out of the cabin, leaving me on my own. _And here I thought she had actually learned to be disciplined by now..._ _Besides, this isn't even the season for cherry blossoms..._

* * *

 **\- Japan, [District 1] -**

We arrived at the complex without bigger incidents. We had to convince the locals with various promises and money for them to cooperate, but even then their distrust was evident. On the other side, although ruined by the Black Beast, it seemed that Japan has managed to recover despite the flow of seithr from the constantly-open Cauldron: the plants and animals weren't as mutated and feral as they were, for example, outside of safe area around [Torifune] or in Ikaruga. The seasons still seemed completely misaligned, though - the amount of vegetation made one think it was the middle of July, not the beginning of March. At some point, the truck owner refused to get closer to the complex. Makoto signaled that to the operator back in the Tokyo outpost, after which we continued on foot.

The complex was indeed run-down, although not as much as a hundred years of inactivity would suggest, which reminded me of the 'time-distorting phenomenon' Makoto mentioned in the briefing. Everything seemed very sturdy, too sturdy to be made simply from normal alloys. I could sense magic being used to reinforce the superstructure, and Makoto confirmed it when that 'analysis kit' indicated presence of magical enhancement. The complex itself was similar to a Hierarchical City, but instead of being built on a mountain it was dug _into_ a mountain. Another resemblance was that the Cauldron - and Ayatsuki's lab as well, I presumed - was located on the bottom of the complex, requiring use of an elevator to get there. Luckily, it was still operational.

The lab itself was nonoperational, and the analysis proven the Cauldron to be destroyed, thus disproving the Nox-class weapon theory. Nevertheless, we started to look around for any signs of recent (relatively to the normal flow of time, at least) activity within the lab. After a few hours we managed to restore power to some of the computers in the lab and, while Makoto began making a memory dump, I checked for any notes about EMP-based weapons.

"Aaaand done. Kokopuffs is gonna love this." I heard Makoto saying to herself, then shouting "Jin, how's the search going?".

"Not much. The only documents mentioning weapons are those regarding the Susano'o Unit or Terumi hiring both Relius and-"

"That we know already. Anything else?" Makoto interrupted me, seemingly in a hurry. _Stop interrupting me, squirrel..._

"Notes on the Azure Grimoire, how it's working and such. Also, there seems to be a 'to-do list' here..."

"Curious. Let's see what those mad scientists do on their off-time!" she said gleefully. I had to force myself not to facepalm.

"It looks more like a list of future projects..." I said to myself.

"Lemme see!" Makoto came to my side and took over. "Wait a minute... 'Further sampling of subtle electromagnetic background distortions in Yatsugatake Mountains', dated 5th April 2014... Doesn't that correspond to those readings Kokonoe told us about?"

"Possibly..." I pondered. _Why is here an entry this old, though?..._ "If those are indeed the same distortions, then we might be onto something. Send that to her immediately."

"Okay, I'll just copy that list and send it as well" Makoto said and sprang to work instantly.

This complicated the situation. _If somebody back there was indeed looking into the same occurrence that we are now, then that means seithr was actually blocking some sort of extra-logical interference... Seems that the only theory that still applies is the one about an Intervention, though there's a low probability_ _of Izanami being connected to it..._

At that moment Kokonoe opened up a connection to Makoto's kit, appearing as a to-scale, animated hologram.

"That's pretty good data you found there. Analyzing all these memory dumps will take a while, but that isn't important right now. Seems we're dealing with an Intervention here, possibly large-scale. Something like the Izayoi's Zanki Barrier, but much bigger and more covert."

"And we are going to scan that, aren't we?" I asked. _I'm getting tired of those Observation shenanigans..._

"Nice deduction, Sherlock." she deadpanned. "Oh, and by the way, if shit hits the fan, just send a message and we'll drop Tager off to your coordinates."

"Thanks." I said, not much convinced with that. After all, the area affected by this barrier seemed to be around thirty kilometers in diameter, so if we ended up surrounded by hostiles, Tager wouldn't be much of a help. _Why didn't she send him in the first place, then?..._ After another short exchange, Kokonoe cut the connection, and Makoto decided that it's already too late to travel, so we had to sleep in the abandoned lab. I didn't feel excited by idea of sleeping beside a destroyed Cauldron, but better this than a pack of feral seithr-dogs, if any survived. It was better not to test that, though.

* * *

It was hard to fall asleep in that godforsaken place. I felt as if somebody kept constantly watching me. Most probably some kind of Observer, maybe an AI; after all, Takamagahara were easily capable of Observing entities. Still, it was enough to keep me from falling asleep. I glanced at Makoto, who, in contrast, seemingly had fallen asleep quite fast, though still tossed around. After an hour of attempting to shake off this uneasy feeling, I got up and once again looked over whatever documents were on Ayatsuki's computer. _Analysis of seithr output depending on input voltage... Effects of seithr on human body...no, that won't be too useful... Personal logs? Whatever..._ As the uneasy feeling not only didn't stop, but seemingly grew even stronger, I finally decided to end this farce.

"Show yourself, Observer." I said quietly, so Makoto wouldn't wake up. Although nobody responded, this ambient nervousness slowly faded away. _So there is an Observer. I'll need to confirm this with Makoto in the morning._ Since falling asleep would be difficult until I calmed down completely, I decided to continue searching the computer for any other signs of these 'Yatsugatake distortions', but aside from a short note for some other scientist, apparently Relius - strange, since it was almost a century later - there was nothing new. I shut the computer down and lied on the ground near Makoto, finally falling asleep.

When I woke up, Makoto was already talking with Kokonoe about some technical difficulties. Apparently Tager had been damaged during construction of the high-output reactor in Ōkoto ( _Wasn't he supposed to be on standby?..._ ) and wouldn't be able to support us. Also, the basic readings did indicate a barrier of some sorts in the Yatsugatake Mountains, but it was similar to the Zanki Barrier only in its function of hiding something. We needed to actually enter it to get any useful information.

"Wait a second, Kokonoe. There's a high probability that our actions are being Observed." I said, getting up.

"Good morning to you too, Jin." she deadpanned. "Makoto also mentioned that, so you'd better hurry. The last we want is Izanami finding you without backup."

"Got it, Kokonoe. See you later!" Makoto said, cutting the connection and turning to me. "You felt that strange presence at night too, Jin?"

"Yes. I'm surprised you could sleep with that around." I said.

"Well, I _did_ work under Hazama for a few years, you know. Constant nausea was an occupational hazard." she said. "I got used to it."

"Point taken." I said and started packing my equipment, Makoto following shortly after. "Do you have any idea who could it be?"

"My guess is as good as yours, Jin." she shrugged and continued packing up. "Where did you leave the guns?"

"Right here, by the observation room."

"...Then it seems that Observer wants us here on their terms. They're gone." she said, folding her arms. _Great._

"Tch... We need to keep moving and finish it as quickly as possible, then." I said, picking up my stuff and beckoning Makoto to do the same. With nothing more to do, we moved out of the complex, clearing it of any signs of our presence. The strange presence resurfaced for a moment as we closed the door, but disappeared just as quickly. We didn't give it much thought - it wasn't that important as long as it didn't directly interfere.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue**

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/01 Japan, Yatsugatake Mountains -**

We'd been walking all over the place for hours. While the scenery was enjoyable, Kokonoe had instructed us to gather readings from various points of the 'barrier', so we needed to be constantly on the move. Needless to say, moving around a barely inhabited, mountainous area can be tiring even for trained soldiers. _At least we didn't encounter any seithr-mutated animals, so it seems that this month was enough for them to die out... Which reminds me, is my brother still alive? If he did die..._

" _Incoming transmission from 6th Hierarchical City [Yabiko]._ " we've heard from Makoto's backpack, and in a moment, Kagura's voice rang out.

"Hey there, Jin, Makoto. How's the trip?"

"Good afternoon. We're mostly walking around those mountains, waiting for Kokonoe to give us any orders. Why do you ask?" I said. Makoto, of course, didn't say anything.

"I thought you might enjoy the distraction. By the way, Rachel said that this Murakumo Unit we'd salvaged from the Embryo is slowly stabilizing. If I were you-"

"I know what you're about to say, and no thanks." I said. _Kagura's antics can be so annoying at times..._ "Anyway, is there a further point in this conversation or did you call us because you don't have anything better to do?"

"You wound me, Jinny. I care about all of my subordinates and try to support them at all times." Kagura teased.

"Between parties and hangovers." Makoto muttered angrily. _She really has something against him..._

"Anyway, since the connection isn't dead yet, could you tell Kokonoe to repair Tager faster?" I asked. "The thought of being in potentially hostile territory without backup or functioning Nox-class weapon isn't exactly appealing."

"I'll see what I can do, but no promises. Kagura out." he finished, this time without the humorous tone. With the connection terminated, we headed to the next scanning point coordinates.

* * *

Sometime around 1600 hours Kokonoe sent us a short message: 'Analysis indicates that the barrier is non-Euclidean in nature and has a weak spot somewhere around the southeastern border. Go there and make an in-depth EM and radiation scans'. Since we were already nearby, the trip didn't take too long. As we started setting up the equipment, that eerie feeling from yesterday's night returned. This time I reacted instantly.  
"Come out. Observer. We know you're there." I said calmly and along with Makoto entered a battle stance. However, this time not only this uneasiness didn't fade, quite the contrary. It felt as if this Observer stared right into my soul.

"Jin, maybe you shouldn't taunt them like this..." Makoto said with a shaky voice. It seemed she'd taken it much worse than I had. _What was that thing you said about Hazama in the morning?..._ Yet the Observer still stayed hidden. I looked around, trying to find as much as a glimpse of them, but there was nothing out of ordinary in our surroundings. Only plants, rocks and occasional birds and insects flying around. _Well, at least trying wouldn't hurt..._ Invoking the Power of Order, I tried to unsheathe Yukianesa. Surprisingly, it activated on its own despite the negligibly low amounts of seithr in the area. I plunged the blade in the ground, letting ice spread all over the clearing. That's when we finally got a response.

"What was that?" Makoto said, staring intensely at one point. We both ran in that direction and searched the nearby bushes. After a few seconds, I found a small red ribbon lying on the ground. _Who drops ribbons in the middle of a forest? Even Rachel doesn't have enough audacity to do such a thing..._ I called Makoto and showed it to her.

"A ribbon? What the..."

"Indeed. Whoever it is, they're toying with us." I said, putting the ribbon into my pocket. _  
_

"At least this confirms we have an Observer around." Makoto said, slowly calming down. "I'll inform Kokonoe."

"Right. I'll look if there are any more clues left." I said and once more searched the bushes. There was nothing more, though, so I walked back to the clearing, where Makoto was in the middle of a conversation with Kokonoe.

"Is that supposed to be a calling card or such shit?"

"I don't think so, but it seems to be quite well-made." the squirrel said. "Whoever that was obviously has good taste."

"Whatever. And Jin," Kokonoe said as she turned to me, "Makoto told me that you managed to reactivate Yukianesa here. Did you use the Power of Order again?"

"It activated on its own." I said.

"Okay, that's a little strange. No Nox is supposed to function in such situation. Although..." she trailed off, "if this barrier was similiar in nature to Ars Magus, then it should be possible to use Yukianesa... Anyway, once you finish the analysis, see if you can find some kind of landmark that could function as an anchoring point." Kokonoe said and the connection died.

"She's such a slave driver, isn't she, Jin?" Makoto said pleadingly. I couldn't disagree.

* * *

We've been searching for a landmark, as Kokonoe told us to. According to her it was somewhere in this "weak spot". However, after two hours of searching we still hadn't found anything.

"Well, isn't this strange." Makoto said.

"What is it?" I asked. _I hope it's not another red herring..._

"Looks like there is a building of some sorts in that direction." she responded, pointing to my left. Indeed, despite unusually thick foliage, especially for this season, a roof of some Ikaruga-styled building was visible there. _Could those be refugees from the civil war?_

"Hm. Let's move then. Maybe this is the anchor." I said. Without further ado we headed in the direction of the building.

After a few minutes we could clearly see the building. It reminded me of those shrines I saw during my service in Ikaruga. It was an old-fashioned Shinto shrine, although it seemed to be somewhat run-down - red paint on the torii was faded, the roof of chōzuya was missing a few tiles, the approach was overgrown with moss and a few lanterns were broken or missing. Notably, there was no honden or shamusho, and the haiden wasn't very big, only about 25 square meters. Strangely, the haiden lacked any signs of disuse - even the donation box in front seemed to be regularly checked. If anybody lived in the building, they probably had long forgotten its purpose. We decided to enter and make another scan of the area. _Who knows, maybe this is this barrier's anchoring point._

While Makoto was readying the equipment, I looked for any further indication of occupants. There were no signs of any electrical or Ars-based appliances, so the shrine must have been either completely abandoned for the last three hundred years, or whoever lived and worked in it must have been heavily traditional. The storehouse was filled with various long-term food, such as seemingly home-made bread, fruits and dried tea leaves. Strangely, there was a grove of cherry trees behind the shrine. Finding no obvious proof, I returned to the haiden. After a few minutes the analysis kit started its repetitive work.

"What do you think, Jin," Makoto started, "why is there a shrine in such an empty place? Nobody lives here, there's no manager or anything... Not even a single shrine maiden showed up. Isn't that odd?"

"The Black Beast probably devoured them during its rampage and nobody even remembered about this place." I said.

"Yeah... But for nobody to even stumble upon it in a hundred years?"

"True. Let's wait for the results. Then we'll worry." I said, finishing this needless conversation.

A few minutes later Makoto left the haiden and I was left with the working equipment. My thoughts once again started drifting towards the current geopolitical situation. _Currently we have the coalition between NOL and Sector Seven. Strange how our once fiercest enemy is now working along with us for the sake of humanity... Then again, who even a year ago could have suspected the former Imperator to be the goddess of death?..._ At that moment the analysis kit started beeping, signaling that the results are unusual. I went to look at the display.

 _ANALYSIS RESULTS_

 _\- seithr level: negligible_  
 _\- radiation levels: within norm (2.12 mSv)_  
 _\- electromagnetic distortions consistent_  
 _with previously established patterns_  
 _\- additional information: detected unknown_  
 _spatial anomaly within designated area;_  
 _non-Euclidean  
_

Huh. A spatial anomaly. Seems we, as Makoto would put it, 'struck gold' in coming here. I waited for the squirrel to come back and showed her the results.

"What are we waiting for, then? I'm calling Kokonoe... wait a minute, no connection?" she said, baffled. "Why did it have to break right now?..."

"No use getting worked up about it. If the worst happens, they'll send a backup team to pick us up. See if you can repair it."  
"Yeah, yeah. On it." Makoto said, picking up the kit and taking it outside. I followed her. As I went through the sliding doors of the haiden, Yukianesa once more awakened from its dormant state, this time even without prompting. _What the... Something's very wrong here..._

"Makoto, it seems we somehow affected this barrier." I said, looking around for hostiles.

"Huh? When?" she asked, a little spooked.

"I don't know... but wherever we are, there seems to be enough seithr to support a Nox at full power. Stay alert." I said, moving slowly around the shrine. Although the surroundings didn't change even a bit, it still felt as if we were transported to somewhere completely different. A place that for some reason wasn't affected by the Lynchpin, brimming with magic. Walking back to Makoto, I ordered her to make a quick scan for seithr density. A few seconds later the kit displayed that there was little to no seithr in the area.

"Hey, Jin... Kokonoe told us to find the anchoring point, right?" Makoto said , strangely calm given the situation.

"She did. What about it?" I asked. _I don't like where this is going..._

"Well, it seems we managed to find the entrance instead..."

Nothing seemed to work. GPS, communication module, even Internet in my mobile phone didn't work... I couldn't even call the branch at Tokyo, even though mere half an hour ago it would connect with ease. Meanwhile, Makoto tried to get as much background data as it was possible.

"Jin, look at this." she called me. "Seems that there is 'ambient magic' in this place." _So that's why Yukianesa is active here..._ Still, that didn't answer the question of 'how do we get out of here?'.

"I think that's enough for now. Now we should focus on-"

"And who are you two?"

Both me and Makoto turned to where the voice came from. On the veranda of the same shrine we exited mere minutes ago sat a girl, maybe in her late teens. She had mid-back-length black or brown hair, tied with a large red-white ribbon and with red tubes on the sidelocks. She wore a red skirt, sleeveless red top with a white collar tied with a yellow ribbon, large white detached sleeves exposing her armpits. The color scheme reminded me of a shrine maiden, but the style was nowhere near.

"I'd ask you the same question, girl." I said harshly, looking for any sign of hostility and readying myself for any counterattack.

"Hey, no need for that tone there." the girl said, rising her arms in a defensive gesture. "My name is Hakurei Reimu. I'm the miko of this shrine. You two seem to be Outsiders, don't you?"

... _A shrine maiden then_. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Jin Kisaragi from the Novus Orbis Librarium, 4th Thaumathurgist Squadron, and this is First Lieutenant Makoto Nanaya from the Novus Orbis Librarium Intelligence Department." I introduced us, dropping the harsh tone the battle stance. "We stumbled in this place by accident and are in need of assistance. Maybe you know how can we go back to our side of the barrier?"

"You're not the first to ask me that, and frankly, I have no idea." Reimu said, shrugging. I saw her fist clench for a moment. "Though you're lucky that you crossed over here and not anywhere else, since you would be easy prey for the youkai."

"Youkai?" Makoto said while picking up the analysis kit. "You mean those monsters fron Japanese legends?"

"Not all of them are monsters, but most of them would still very much like to take a bite or two out of you. Come inside, I'll make some tea." Reimu said, entering the haiden. I looked at Makoto.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do, I suppose." she said and we too went inside.

* * *

 **\- Unknown, Hakurei Shrine -**

"So, if you want to live to the day until you go back outside" Reimu said, sitting on the tatami mat, "you need to learn how things go in Gensokyo." _That must be how this area is called..._

"Of course, but before that, we need to confirm a few things." I said, gesturing at Makoto to make her start writing notes. "First of all, what is the barrier that separates this Gensokyo and the rest of the world?"

"It's the Great Hakurei Barrier." Reimu started explaining while Makoto wrote down every detail. "It has been set up about a hundred years ago, or at least that's what the chronicles say. The shrine serves as the main gateway between Gensokyo and the outside world."

"Hmm... then does the term 'Black Beast' remind you of something?" I asked.

"Nope, not a thing."

Me and and the squirrel looked at each other. _How could someone who recorded creation of this barrier have not recorded the Black Beast? And since it originated in_ _Japan, on top of it?_ I turned once more to Reimu. "In that case... exactly when was the barrier established in relation to the outside world chronology?"

"Wait, let me check that one." Reimu said and walked to one of the shelves, taking out a book titled 'Gensokyo Chronicle Volume IX, edition 3' and checking something inside. "In 1885." she said as she returned the book to its place.

"And according to your chronology, now its..." I prompted the miko.

"Season, or year 129 since creation of the Barrier." she said. _If I didn't know better, I'd say this is impossible._

"In this case, it seems that the whole Gensokyo has been in temporal stasis for one hundred and eighty-six years." Makoto said. "And what a coincidence Jin, that's also the year in which the Cauldron in District 1 has been completed." _Curious..._

"Cauldron?" the miko asked, seemingly confused about the whole time-displacement. "What do you mean by that?"

"It would take way too much time to explain, but think of it as an artificial gate to the Boundary of the world." the squirrel replied.

"Okay, next question." I said, setting the conversation back on track. Since asking about Ars Magus was pointless... "Do you perhaps use magic here?"

"Yes, most youkai are magic-based entities, though they survive mainly thanks to human fear." Reimu said, and after a moment of silence she asked "You don't seem to believe me, do you?"

"Actually, we believe you very much." I said. "Discovering the Cauldrons caused magic and alchemy to once more gain credibility, this time not only as an area of science, but also as an art."

"Well, that's something new. Outside World regaining magic..." Reimu said curiously. "Anything else?"

"No, that's all. What did you want to tell us, then?" I asked.

"First of all: when you enter Gensokyo, you have to leave the outside world's common sense behind. Most, if not all beings and places here will be impossible to explain."

"So, in layman's terms: if it's supernatural or just outlandish, it's here?" Makoto asked.

"Pretty much. Secondly, do not engage youkai in physical fights. You will most probably lose." Reimu said. "We've got the Spell Card system for those. Ever heard of danmaku?"

"Nope." Makoto said. Neither did I, frankly. _Is this supposed to be a game of sorts?_

"Okay. In danmaku battles both participants try to hit the enemy with energy bullets a set amount of times that was agreed upon before the duel. However, there are a few hard rules. Every pattern must be possible to dodge. Every specific pattern must be written on a Spell Card - a card depicting such a pattern, standardizing its shape. A Spell Card can only be interrupted when the user is hit, otherwise it must end on its own. Lastly, when you are defeated in a danmaku duel, you will swallow your pride, adhere to the stated regulations and go through with whatever the duel was about."

"Pretty extensive." Makoto said, writing every detail down. "I think there is an Ars or two that can create nonlethal ammunition."

"Ars?" Reimu said.

"Ars Magus. For those that cannot use pure magic." I explained. _I hope it works here... but since Yukianesa does..._

"Anyway, that pretty much covers it." Reimu said, getting up. "You'd better get going if you want to reach the Human Village before night. it's located on the side of the Forest of Magic. You can see it from here if you look hard enough." she finished as she exited the haiden, both me and Makoto following.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/01 Unknown area -**

In a cave somewhere in Europe, a man was laying in agony. He got used to it by now, but the pain couldn't diminish because of it. He could only wait for it to once again fade out.

How the mighty have fallen, he thought. He was one of the most influential people in the world, playing the most dangerous and unpredictable groups as if they were nothing but mere toys. Now he was in shambles. All the power, all the glory... taken away in one sweep. The Imperator, whom he had taken for granted, turned on him the very moment he stopped being useful. The one who gave him shape and purpose was dead. His co-conspirator was either dead as well or, like him, hiding somewhere and trying to complete his plans before that purple-haired bitch would finally decide to bring about the end of the world. Yes, his situation was very grim. He couldn't show up even in a backwater place like the one just a kilometer south in danger of being found, tried and executed. But he couldn't stop like that. Not him. He couldn't just end up forgotten by ages; no, he was better than that.

Finally, the pain started fading. The man tried getting up, but his muscles refused to comply. If it wasn't for this damned Lynchpin, he would at least be capable of unrestrained movement, but this... Once again he tried to move and through great effort he managed to finally get up and slowly leave his hiding spot. He knew he had to act, and fast. He refused to be defeated. After all, he managed to finally get rid of that shitty four-eyes.

He would bring this world once again under his heel. And this time, nobody would stop him. Those miserable humans should be listening to him like obedient dogs, not rebel like that. He would make sure of it, godesses or not. He would make them scream in agony for this humiliation.

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM THE GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Reimu Hakurei  
Gender: Female  
Race: Human  
Occupation: Hakurei shrine maiden, 'incident resolver'  
Date of birth: circa 110th season / AD 1995  
Birthplace: somewhere in Gensokyo  
Blood type: Unknown  
Eyes: Brown  
Hair: Brown/Black  
Weapon: Yin-Yang Orbs, gohei, danmaku

Special Abilities: Floating, Barrier manipulation

Capable of freely floating through the air. Supposedly can turn herself intangible with this ability as well, though the only noted instances hint at limited control of this ability. Also capable of creating, maintaining and destroying barriers of virtually any strength and purpose.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: So, here's the third chapter and the first battle! Again, please R&R :)

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or Blazblue**

* * *

 **\- 129/05/11 Gensokyo, Village Road -**

The small grove on the way from the Hakurei Shrine proved to be surprisingly difficult to navigate. As such, when we finally went into an open area, it was already dark. Remembering the young miko's warning, we tried to get to an inhabited area as soon as possible. I had to admit though, Gensokyo at night looked as beautiful as it seemed to be deadly. Although... the size of the moon gave me the creeps. _Brother would surely have a word or two about it..._

After a few hours of walking we had to stop, though we couldn't allow ourselves to rest for long. Makoto tried to improvise using an Ars used to fire energy bullets, but she hadn't gone far. As we were gathering our equipment (thankfully the rations included instant coffee), I heard somebody trying to sneak on us, very clumsily at that. I turned around and saw a little girl. She had blonde, shoulder-length hair, wearing a red ribbon-like object on the left side, possibly a talisman, as well as red eyes. She also wore a black vest with a matching skirt and a white blouse underneath. Strangely, the area around her seemed to be darker than normally. _Could she be a youkai?_

"It's not nice to sneak up on unsuspecting people, you know." I said to her coldly.

"Is that so~?" she said, smiling. She looked at Yukianesa, and turned back to me. "You've got a pretty sword there, mister. Are you a swordsman?"

"Listen, kid" Makoto said, "we're currently in a hurry, and besides, your parents must worry about you. What do you say we take you to the village?" _Damn, Makoto! Don't tell me you didn't notice!_

"Why would I need a whole village when you two would be enough?" the girl said, widening her smile, which made Makoto drop her own smile as she connected the dots. Her eyes met my very unimpressed gaze.

"Well, it was worth a shot." she said as she entered a battle stance. _So, our first battle in this world, and we still don't have a way to use danmaku. Seems we have to fight this youkai the hard way..._

 **BGM: Apparitions Stalk the Night**

The girl _flew_ straight at us, trying to get through our guard with direct attacks. As we didn't know yet how strong could youkai be, we decided to avoid physical contact for now and jumped off to the sides. I tried slashing the blonde with Yukianesa at the same time, but she made a backflip in the air and shot a stream of energy bullets at me, which I had to block with a sheet of ice. Makoto ran to the girl and punched her a few times, but the youkai seemingly didn't care about the strikes and countered with a kick to the squirrel's face.

"Hishōken!" I shouted, shooting an icicle straight at the youkai. She tried to avoid it and once again fire a barrage of bullets, but I were faster. The force behind the attack shot her out of the sky, which allowed Makoto to pummel her with a series of fast punches. At some moment though the girl covered an area around herself and Makoto with pitch-black darkness. Moments later, I could see Makoto jumping out of the darkness orb, clutching her left arm.

"You taste pretty good for a human!" the youkai said as she licked the blood off her lips, which made me look at my companion's arm more closely. Indeed, the blond girl has left a deep bite mark on it.

"Go and clean that wound. Her saliva might be poisonous, for what we know." I told Makoto, which she promptly followed. Then I turned towards the dark orb. "I don't care if you are human or youkai. Stand aside and don't bother us, or you shall meet your end."

"How am I supposed to leave a meal just after I had a taste?" the girl said, then she flew towards me with intent to kill. "The squirrel lady tastes fine, but a pure human has much better flavor~" she said as I grabbed Yukianesa's hilt and waited for the correct moment. After a second I attacked.

"Hirensō!" I shouted, drawing my blade as I slashed her once to counteract her momentum, then a second time to throw her away from Makoto and myself.

"You're pretty good in using that sword. It's really fun fighting with you!" the youkai said as she rose up. "But it's time for me to fight seroiusly! Darkness Sign [Demarcation]!" she shouted as she took out a card. _That must be one of those Spell Cards Reimu told us about... At least those bullets won't be lethal. There's no reason to be hit by them, though._ The girl started shooting bullets spreading out in a circle, but after the third she made a pause, then she shot four thick clusters of homing bullets. Avoiding the first three clusters was simple, but the fourth would hit me if I didn't roll to the left. Unfortunately, in doing that I jumped straight into one of the spread-out bullets. The contact paralyzed me for a few seconds, which the girl used to fly right at me.

"It's snack time~" she gleefully said, reaching out to grab me and take a hearty bite of flesh out of my right arm.  
"Corona Upper!" Makoto suddenly uppercutted the youkai, who was caught completely by surprise, and followed it up with a dunk punch, driving the blonde's head straight into the ground.

"Ow! That was mean! I need to punish you, squirrel lady!" the youkai said, creating an aura of pitch-black darkness around Makoto, leaving only the tip of her tail visible. _Does she want to attack Makoto from behind?_ Makoto tried to jump out of the orb, but the darkness, as well as the blonde girl, followed her. She tried to retaliate, but her pursuer dodged the ill-aimed punches and kicks effortlessly. I rose up, regaining control of my muscles, and used my signature attack as Makoto seemingly gave up on attacking and decided to simply avoid the little girl.

"Musō..." I said as I created a board of ice, flying towards the youkai. As I caught up to her, I jumped off the ice board and followed up with a downward slash. "...Senshōzan!" However, the small field of darkness she generated made my aim off by a few centimeters. For that mistake I was rewarded with a straight punch between my eyes.

"You tried to be sneaky, mister, but Rumia is sneaker!" the girl said as she turned around to bite my leg. _Rumia then. I wonder where had I heard this name before._ I made a spin kick while standing up. Though I didn't hit her, I still managed to deter her from biting me. She made a cheap shot at me, though, so I was paralyzed once again. Makoto was too far away, so she couldn't make another save. I was forced to use the Power of Order to stand up and grab Rumia, who was visibly shocked. "You should be still paralyzed!" However, I didn't plan to submit. _Time to finish this._ I threw her a few meters up in the air and, having created an ice bow, aimed at her.

"Hiyoku Getsumei!" I shouted as I shot the arrow at Rumia, which drilled right through her and freezed her in a block of ice. When she fell to the ground, the ice broke, but Rumia stayed down. At that moment the darkness orb around the aimlessly running Makoto dissolved.

* * *

"Note to self: even a five-year-old can be a youkai." Makoto said to herself as I bandaged her arm after we ran off a few meters away from the unconscious blond. "At least we're alive, huh?"

"Hm." I grunted. I didn't want to admit it, but being almost outsmarted in a fight by a little girl embarrassed me greatly. _Though it does set the scale to 'high' from the very start, so no complaints. And she could fly indefinitely, it seems._ "I wonder what Tsubaki's doing..."

"She's probably pestering Kokonoe about why did she send us into an unknown situation and that she wants to come to your aid immediately."

"Yeah...though Rachel will have none of it, I presume."

"They will send someone after us when they notice our lack of reports suspicious. Oh, and speaking of reports..." she said as she turned on the analysis kit, "How about we make that voice recording option useful?"

"Do as you wish. But be quick about it, the smell of blood must be attracting the feral youkai."

"Okay, okay. Ahem. Mission log no. 5. Around 1645 hours we stumbled upon a seemingly abandoned shrine..."

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/02 1st Integration City [Ōkoto], Kagura Mutsuki's office -**

It was as if whole world conspired against him. The accident on the reactor construction side yesterday. Problems with Sector Seven nuke disposal. A very bad hangover. Yes, today was not the best Thursday in General Kagura Mutsuki's life. And on top of that, Kokonoe was trying to tell him something.

"Are you even listening to me?!" she screamed, trying to once again catch his attention. Kagura winced in pain.

"Please, Koko, not so loud." he said, taking a gulp of milk and trying to focus on the conversation. "You said when did they send their last report?"

"16:47. And they would send a distress signal if they were attacked." the scientist said a little calmer since Kagura was finally responding.

"Maybe the batteries went down or something?" Kagura asked, smiling sheepishly.

"Face, meet palm." Kokonoe muttered to herself. "It's supposed to last a month, dammit!" she shouted, banging her fist on Kagura's desk and making him wince again.

"Please, stop shouting... Why don't you send Tager there?"

"I still didn't repair him. Yesterday's screw-up at the reactor. Does that ring any bells?" Kokonoe said. She was utterly annoyed by Kagura's sorry state.

"Yeah, right... Listen, I'd like to do something, but it's too hard to think... Man, I should've drank less... Wait, did Lambda recover yet?"

"Even if she did, I can't send her without supervision." Kokonoe said. She even started to pity him, and that said something.

"Then maybe that white-haired mercenary... 'Bullet', she called herself?" Kagura suggested.

"Do you think she will listen to me?" she said. Even though the woman did finally find out the truth about [Phenomena Weapon Dispossession Operation], she still didn't trust Sector Seven, though she tried to tolerate Kokonoe, in her own way.

"Maybe not to you, but to NOL?" Kagura said with a wry smile. "I can think of a few ways to convince her."

"And what would those be? She won't give a shit about your smooth talking."

"It would be worth a shot. But jokes aside, I think we could give her a few tips on the location of her leader, couldn't we?" Kagura winked knowingly.

"...How did you find out?" Kokonoe said in a level tone.

"Well, now that Hazama has been kicked out, the Intelligence stopped hoarding information to themselves. I just asked around."

"...You do know she will go after me?"

"Which is why she should thank you that you saved Tager." Kagura said with a smile. "What could go wrong in this situation?"

"...Whatever. Do as you want, but if she starts bitching, don't ask me for help." Kokonoe said as she left the office. With the problem resolved, Kagura wrote in his organizer 'Send the sexy mercenary to go fetch Jinny and Makoto' and took out a beer from under the table. Yes, a chug of his favorite booze would surely help.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/12 Gensokyo, Village Road -**

We managed to spend the night in relative peace. Because of the battle, we couldn't move too fast and had to sleep in the open. When I woke up, the sun was already high in the sky. I noticed a small, winged girl looking through our backpacks. _Fairies... Reimu said that they can be really mischievous..._

I rised from the ground and silently walked up to the fairy in a way that I cast a shadow on her. Predictably and rather comically, she stopped whatever she was doing and slowly turned around. I noticed then that she was gorging herself on our rations.

"Ummm... hi?" she said and immediately flew away as I drew Yukianesa to strike her. There was no use in pursuing her, so I looked through whatever was left of our food. Unfortunately, the fairy had either eaten or taken almost everything save for a few nutrition bars, presumably because of their bland taste, a few buns and two cans of sardines. I woke up Makoto and a few minutes later we started walking towards the Human Village.

After a few hours we managed to get to the village. It was very similar to the ones in Ikaruga, or feudal Japan for that matter. The residents looked at us with curiosity and, in case of Makoto, with fear. They probably thought that she was a youkai because of her tail. I tried asking around to find anybody who could use magic, but everybody either backed away due to Makoto or claimed lack of knowledge. Nevertheless, we still walked around until we found a medicine seller wit a peculiar, at least for Gensokyo, appearance: she had long, light purple hair and red eyes which unnerved me to no end as I looked at them. She wore a white shirt, a red tie and a beige skirt, as well as a large black beret. I managed to get some disinfectants from her, as well as information - it seemed she ignored Makoto's ears and tail, though she did look a little shocked when she saw them. She told us of a Marisa Kirisame, a young witch who lived in the Forest of Magic, but advised us against going there immediately.

"You probably won't make it before the nightfall, and because of the full moon all the youkai will be much more powerful than normally. In your situation I'd wait for a few days before leaving the village."

"Okay, but we don't have much money for any food or shelter. Do you know any place that would hire...beastkin?" Makoto said. Seems that her insecurities were being stirred by those ignorants.

"Well..." the girl, Reisen, started. "I could introduce you to my employer, but you'd have to be very lucky for her to hire you. She's pretty harsh, as well as suspicious of any outsiders. Besides, we don't live at the village."

"Don't worry." I said. "We have our ways of convincing people."

"This didn't sound very, ahem...convincing or safe, but I'll see what I can do." Reisen said. She had to leave soon though, so we helped her to pack her goods. Afterwards, with not much better to do, we started to seek odd jobs in the village. We needed to earn money for some food since whatever that fairy didn't eat was already gone.

* * *

 **\- 2200/08/02 NOL airship en route to [District 1] -**

Just another mission, Bullet thought. Simple rescue & extraction, be extremely cautious, fight to the death. Like a lot of other missions she went through. However, this time she'd been asked by NOL to retrieve two of their officers who disappeared in unexplained circumstances, and on such a short notice to boot. She stretched out to relieve some tension. Of course, Bullet would feel better if she had her Armagus with her, but without seithr in the atmosphere it was useless anyway. Because of that, she had to resort to a pair of good, old bladed knuckles. Though they wouldn't be much of a help against firearms, she didn't care. She was a melee fighter after all.

What perturbed her was what that beastkin scientist said. Two very important officers disappearing during an investigation of some strange movement in Japan... it was painfully obvious something was off. Either they were messing with her, or something really wrong and unexpected happened out there... but then, why did Kagura...? Bullet once again looked through her instructions. Get to the last recorded location of Lieutenant Colonel Jin Kisaragi and First Lieutenant Makoto Nanaya... that squirrel, she thought... and search the area for any signs of activity. She was supposed to have a long-range tracking devise and headset for direct communication constantly working so, in case she shared the fate of the first party, a larger squad of trained soldiers could be sent. Other than that, she had freedom of action, short of threatening and harming civilians of course. She looked at the clock. ETA two hours, apparently. She decided to do a quick workout to pass the time efficiently.

Maybe it was a typical mission, but with an interesting twist, Bullet thought. One of those things you should look forward to in life.

* * *

 **\- Somewhere in Western Europe -**

The young man with green hair, yellow eyes and a perpetually polite smile was crossing through the border between Ukraine and Russia.. However, that smile was a ruse: he tried his hardest not to let even a slight hint of discomfort be shown on his face. Even the ungodly amount of painkillers he took to lessen his agony wasn't much of a help. It was enough, though, to make it go below his now heightened pain tolerance and only thanks to that did he avoid detection by the border guards, albeit narrowly.

Still, this was only the beginning. He chose to get to his co-conspirator's old laboratory in Japan, to try and reactivate the Cauldron there so he could at least negate this infuriating pain. Then he could start planning. He remembered a deserted shrine somewhere near the lab, a place that one of the owners always wanted to explore for some reason, maybe due to some Intervention. If there really was something, then it could be a stepping stone towards defeating that backstabbing, ungrateful bitch, but the chance was low. Maybe he could find company in there, though... Somebody who could be used as a punching bag, a toy for his personal use... How he desired to once again listen to those screams... 'No! Please, stop! No more!'... and yet, his current situation denied him this pleasure.

As he entered the territory of Russian Federation, he already started planning his way towards Japan. Of course, he would need to...stock up on painkillers, but that wasn't this important. Russian policemen even now were known for their ruthlessness, and because of that he had to lay low. Especially since he was also in the middle of Ikaruga, the territory where his original was killed... and where that damned Unit remained, taunting him with its unshakable presence. The man knew he had to move fast if he wanted to survive, if he wanted to go out on top of this pile of crisscrossing plans. Just as he always did - move with his eyes constantly on his watch. Every move planned to the second. Every word, every gesture... though this time, he didn't have prior knowledge of events.

That didn't change much though. He would adapt. He always adapted.

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM THE GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Rumia  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai  
Danger Level: Medium / Unknown (see Addendum)  
Aggression Level: Above Average  
Occupation: N/A  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Unknown, somewhere in Gensokyo  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Red  
Hair: Blonde  
Weapon: Danmaku

Special Ability: Manipulation of darkness

Capable of creating dark areas of varying size and intensity. Supplementary abilities may include high-level night vision (some reports mention recognition of shapes and colors in complete darkness).

Addendum: Under effect of a sealing talisman of unknown origin and purpose. Despite the classification of Medium danger level extreme caution is advised when engaging in battle.


	4. Chapter 4

Hey everybody :) I'll have to slow down with the chapters since the summer exams are drawing near, but I'll try to submit a chapter once a week :) For clarity, characters from Gensokyo will use only Eastern naming order, while the Outside World characters will use the Western (except in conversations with Gensokyo characters).

Anyway, please R&R!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue**

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/02 4th Hierarchical City [Naobi], NOL Branch -**

Kokonoe was sitting at her desk in the lab she got from the NOL. Kagura had to pull a few strings back then to get her a clearance, but by now this place was like a home away from home. Her files, notes, her spare coffee cups, hell, even her secret stash of snacks has been brought here by now. She could start her usual work at any time...

...unfortunately, today wasn't her job wasn't usual. Sure, she served as mission control for a lot of Sector Seven operatives back in the days, but she had never been stuck with an uncooperative one back then. Why the hell then she of all people had to serve as Bullet's MC? Kokonoe took sips of her coffee as she prepared for the imminent verbal combat between herself and the perpetually angry mercenary.

Finally, the radio silence was broken. "Bullet here. I've made it to the District 1 lab without bigger problems."

"Good for you then. You've-"

"Wait a second, why are _you_ my MC? What the hell are they thinking!?"

"It's not like I volunteered for this job, so quit bitching and do what Kagura told you to." Kokonoe said, irritated by the mercenary.

"Tch... I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind when it's over. So, what I'm supposed to do?"

"First of all, go to the coordinates Jin and Makoto included in their last report. It should be marked on your watch."

"Whatever..." Bullet said. "Any info about what can I find there?"

"Only that there is an Observer that wears ribbons." Kokonoe said, and after a few seconds of silence, she added "I'm not making this shit up, if that's what you're thinking."

"Great. Do you think the disappearance of those two could be Relius' doing?" Bulet asked. The image of the Mad Puppeteer wearing cute, red ribbons in his hair almost made Kokonoe feel sorry for the man.

"If he started wearing ribbons, in which case he must have really gone bananas during the Doomsday, then why not. Oh, and if you meet him, tell him that I said 'Go to hell'."

"Noted. I'll be on my way then." Bullet said, and after a moment of pause added "Oh, and one more thing..."

* * *

 **-** ** **Japan,** Yatsugatake Mountains -**

"...thanks for saving the leader's life."

After cutting off the conversation, Bullet checked her watch for the coordinates Kokonoe mentioned. The wristwatch was a nice little invention - it had all the functions of a smartphone, but with added benefits of being much more compact, as well as being equipped with a holographic screen, tracking device, a module for encrypted conversations like the one she just had... And a stun gun, just in case you weren't fit enough or didn't have the clearance to openly fight. She was still a little irritated about being bossed around by Kokonoe, but she couldn't do anything about it now.

Bullet started walking towards the designated location. Although it was the beginning of March, all the plants not only have already sprouted, but looked as if winter didn't happen at all. The sakura trees blossomed to their hearts' content, creating a beautiful atmosphere. Bullet didn't like them, though. The color reminded her too much of that blasted dancer... what was his name again? She couldn't remember. Not like it mattered at the moment, though. She had to get to the coords as fast as she could to start searching.

* * *

The mountain range would be difficult to cross for an untrained man, but Bullet wasn't an untrained man. Still, it wasn't like she didn't need a rest once in a while. As she sat on a tree stump to eat a few energy bars, she noticed a faint movement in her peripheral vision. She tried to notice the cause without looking in that direction - a skill useful when you had to try and fool the enemy into thinking that you didn't notice them.

What Bullet saw disturbed her. There was a...rip or gap in reality, for lack of better words, floating between the branches of an old oak. Inside of it,  
there were numerous red eyes situated on a red undulating background, all of them looking directly at her. At the ends the gap was seemingly adorned with tiny red ribbons. Even as she ate, the gap calmly analyzed her every movement, reacting even to the most insignificant of her tics.

Bullet calmly finished her meal, the gap continuing to observe her as she rested. Finally, as she was about to start searching once more, she turned her head in the direction of the gap, looking directly on it. "I don't know what the hell are you planning, but if you had something to do with Jin and Makoto disappearing, then I'm gonna go medieval on your ass." she said. The eyes inside the gap looked a little confused, but after a moment the gap closed, its ribbons disappearing with it. Bullet didn't waste time to inform Kokonoe about the sighting.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/12 Gensokyo, Human Village -**

When we met each other in the afternoon, Makoto was grinning with delight. Apparently she managed to find enough odd jobs despite being a beastkin, and judging from how much her coat got damaged, most of it was physical job. It was more than enough to pay for lodging and food to replace what we lost to the fairy. Since we didn't have much to do now I decided to look for some kind of authority while Makoto gathered more information about Gensokyo and its denizens.

When I started asking around, the villagers didn't tell me much about any council of elders of anything, but referred me to a woman named Keine Kamishirasawa. She was supposedly a powerful protector of the village, even capable of hiding it from wild youkai. While I learned that she was also a teacher in the local school, it was closed right now so there was no point in trying to go there. Since my stomach started to aggressively demand attention, I decided to find a grocery of some sort.

Luckily, I found a yakitori stand near the marketplace. The girl running it had a peculiar appearance: ankle-length white or ashen hair decorated with many white-red charms tied like large ribbons, red eyes ( _I wonder whether she's related to Reisen..._ ), a light brown shirt which bore many burn marks and holes, baggy red pants, also decorated with many white charms and red suspenders. I went to the stand and asked for a serving of yakitori. "By the way, do you know where I could find Kamishirasawa Keine?"

"She should be somewhere near the library." the girl aid, pointing in the direction of a large building. "You have to move fast though, night's gonna fall  
soon."

I thanked the girl and went to the library, eating the yakitori on the way. When I got there, I noticed Keine leaving the library. She had long silver hair  
with blue highlights, a curious blue, pagoda-like hat ( _What is it with all this headgear?_ ) and she wore a dark blue dress with short white sleeves. She  
also had a red ribbon tied to the bottom of the collar.

"Excuse me, are you Kamishirasawa Keine?" I asked.

"Yes, I am. You must be an Outsider?"

"Indeed." I said. "We're looking for some kind of job and temporary lodging in the village. Could you provide us with any information?"

"About the lodging, there are a few empty houses in the village that you could rent for a while, but I'm not sure about the job..." she said.

"If you don't have any, that's fine. We've got an employment possibility from that medicine peddler."

"You mean Reisen?" Keine said, frowning. "I don't think normal humans, Outsiders at that, should be involved with those people..."

"Why? She seemed trustworthy and sane enough." I said. Keine glanced around, then took me to the side.

"Promise me you won't say a word in the Outside." she said, and when I nodded my affirmation, she continued "Have you heard of Lunarians?"

"Lunarians?" I asked. _There isn't a single human lunar base. How could be there a whole civilization?_

"The Moon you see is only a barrier, like the Great Hakurei Barrier, that hides the Lunarians. They are an ancient and highly developed society, living on the dark side of the true Moon. Reisen and other residents of Eientei, a mansion inside the Bamboo Forest of the Lost, are Lunarians who deserted their people." Keine explained methodically.

 _Huh. Nothing will surprise me anymore._

"In that case, maybe you know how to get out of Gensokyo?"

"The Hakurei shrine maiden should be able to help you. She did send back a number of Outsiders."

 _Wait a second..._

"We were already at the shrine, but she said that she has no idea how to." _So she was lying after all...Tch, the nerve of those girls..._

"Well, it looks like you offended her somehow. But don't worry, she doesn't hold grudges. You just need to apologize and everything should work out." Keine said.

"Tch." The notion of losing face in front of a girl barely out of her teens wasn't appealing. "So how to get to this Eientei?"

"I wouldn't do that in your place, but you seem persistent. You can ask my friend, Mokou, to help you get to the forest and back. Otherwise, you could get hopelessly lost." _Obviously._

"Okay. Where can we find her?" I asked.

"She runs a yakitori stand at the marketplace." _Coincidence?... no, not in this place. 'Leave the common sense behind'...  
_

"Good to know. For future reference, where can we find you if we need anything?"

"I'll be either at the school, here, or at Mokou's stand." Keine said. "Oh, I didn't quite catch your name. What was it?"

"...Jin Kisaragi." I said. We told farewells to each other, Keine gave me the list of houses for rent and I returned to Mokou's stand.

* * *

"You want to go to Eientei?" Mokou asked for confirmation.

"Indeed. We plan to go there tomorrow morning so that we don't have to spend the night in the forest." I said. Mokou seemingly pondered something.

"...Okay. How many people?"

"Only me and my colleague."

"...Got it. Wait for me in front of the village gates tomorrow." Mokou said and started to leave, but she turned around for a moment. "Keine told you, didn't she?" I nodded. "So like her. Can't blame her for trying, though." the girl said as she walked away. _Now to find Makoto, inform her and rent a house..._

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/2 Japan, Abandoned Hakurei Shrine -**

Bullet found the shrine without any further run-ins with the mysterious Observer. The place was completely abandoned, although Jin and Makoto did leave signs of their presence there - that is, some of the scanning equipment they had with themselves. After reporting to Kokonoe, who seemingly took it in stride, Bullet started looking for clues. The shrine couldn't offer any to her, though. After thoroughly searching the place and checking with the scientist beastkin, she decided to go outside and look for the gap again in case it followed her.

"You still there, Bullet?" Kokonoe asked a few minutes later through the wristwatch.

"Yeah. No other sign of the two, besides that technical stuff lying around. No signs of battle or anything."

"Damn. So they must have unwittingly interfered with that barrier."

"Barrier?" Bullet said, getting tense. "Is there anything else I should know for my safety, beastkin?"

"Shit... It's supposed to be on a need-to know basis, but since you have a confirmed sighting of a non-human Observer and weird shit happening around, there's no reason to not tell you. They were supposed to research an EM anomaly in the vicinity of the Yatsugatake mountain range. It turned out to be some kind of concealment barrier and they were to find an anchoring point, then return so that we could analyze just what kind of magic is maintaining it."

"Magic? You don't say... Could it be that former Imperator?" Bullet asked. She didn't like what was happening there.

"Possibly, but the test logs contradict them. Besides, even Izanami and... Phantom couldn't maintain a barrier this big without help..."

"So we're back to square one." Bullet said. "Am I supposed to enter as well?"

"No, that would be too much of a risk. Return to Naobi and then we'll think what to do." Kokonoe said, cutting the connection. Bullet started walking towards District 1, but suddenly a gap opened in front of her. This time it was very large, large enough to contain a person, and with appropriately-sized ribbons.

"What do you want now, Observer?" Bullet said as she entered a combat stance. "I'm done here, you don't have to watch me anymore."  
At that moment something fluctuated inside the gap and a woman exited from it. She had long blond hair and unusually golden eyes. The woman wore a deep purple dress and a pale, almost white mob cap with a thin red ribbon tied on it, along with more ribbons in her hair unlike those on the gaps. She also carried a large pink parasol.

"So, you finally chose to show yourself." Bullet snarled. The woman only smiled mysteriously.

"Ara ara, you jump to conclusions way too fast. As much as I'd like to, I can't claim to be the cause of your two friends' disappearing."

"Tch. It doesn't matter. Just bring them back."

"Hmm... I could do this, but it wouldn't be fun at all..." the woman said as the gap shifted and shrunk, allowing her to sit on it.

"I don't care. You'll bring them back. Now."

"You should learn to keep those threats to yourself. After all, what would happen if you met somebody for whom they'd be... inconsequential?"

Bullet knew exactly what the implication meant. Indeed, she was completely out of arguments right now if that woman could just teleport away to evade her attacks. That really pissed her off.

"As I said, I. Don't. Care."

"What is it, Bullet?" Kokonoe said through the mercenary's watch.

"Allow me to answer." the parasol woman said as she took the watch off of Bullet's wrist, subtly changing the border of mental resilience in mercenary's mind. "The Great Barrier is indeed partially my work, but those two weren't transported by me."

"Who the hell are you!?" Kokonoe shouted while Bullet tried to shake off the shock. The sheer audacity of the gap user left her completely speechless, or that's what she thought.

"Call me Yakumo Yukari. If you want to come to Gensokyo, then be my guest. It's been almost two hundred years since it existed as a subset of this reality after all." the woman smiled at Kokonoe.

"Damn it... Do you realize what situation the world is in!?"

"I do, regretfully." Yukari dropped her smile for a moment. "However, you should be safe from the Izanami's wrath for now." she said, once again smiling.

"How do you... Shit, don't have time for that. Bullet, get back to the outpost. I'm going to inform Rachel. Over and out." and with those words, Kokonoe  
killed the feed for good. Yukari turned to the now visibly enraged mercenary and gave her back her watch.

"It seems you were hit with the truth pretty badly. Don't worry, I never intended to hurt you in the first place. Here."

"...don't you...patronize...me..." Bullet said through clenched teeth.

"You really are a rebellious one, aren't you?" Yukari said, smiling mischievously.

"...shut... the hell...up..."

This one would need some discipline after all, the youkai thought.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/2 13th Hierarchical City [Kagutsuchi], Civilian port -**

Ah, yes. The place where many important events took place. The Calamity Trigger situation, reforging of the 12th unit, forcing Ragna to take away  
Takamagahara's attention and so forth... The green-haired man fondly returned to those memories. He managed to find stronger painkillers, though they were of dubious origin. He was now feeling almost as healthy as if nothing happened at all... well, nothing aside of eating a slightly rotten egg. This didn't stop him though. He managed to forge a passport and book a cruise to Japan. All that was left was to wait for the ship to arrive.

He didn't feel as irritable as for the past month. In fact, he could just live as an outlaw, doing those drugs to stop the waves of utter agony. But he wasn't that kind of man. He desired revenge on those little shits for screwing his beautifully perfect plan.

He changed his train of thought to once again review the facts. The [District 1] laboratory and Cauldron should still be salvageable. From that point, he could either hide and manipulate the background events by hijacking identities of various NOL and Sector Seven individuals while hiding and waiting for Kushinada's Lynchpin to run out of juice... or he could investigate that anomaly.

While the first option seemed more appealing for now, the green-haired man felt oddly drawn towards the second option. He could now easily recognize an Intervention in this, though whoever attempted it possessed considerable power. It could possibly be Izanami, but it wasn't her style - after all, she hated him due to Saya's body influencing her. She'd rather have him die in an extremely painful and dishonorable way. Not that he didn't deserve it a hundred times over anyway... Still, even if it wasn't Izanami who tried to influence him, he should be very careful not to fall for this feeling. It never ended well, though to be honest, most of such emotional manipulations were done by him, so it wasn't like he could easily defend his point.

He loved the memories of those situations, though. Especially how he had broken Noel or First Lieutenant Garbage...

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM THE GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Keine Kamishirasawa  
Gender: Female  
Race: Were-hakutaku  
Danger Level: Low / Medium  
Aggression Level: Very Low / None  
Occupation: Teacher, Village guardian  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Unknown, likely Gensokyo  
Blood type: Unknown  
Eyes: Brown (red as hakutaku)  
Hair: Silver w/ blue highlights (w/ green highlights as hakutaku)  
Weapon: Danmaku (also horns as hakutaku)

Special Ability: Concealment of history, creation of history

Capable of concealing the history of a person, object or an area, rendering it impossible to observe or interact with. In hakutaku form, capable of "creating history", as well as being completely aware of Gensokyo's history. Transformation into hakutaku form is involuntary and induced by full moon.

Name: Yukari Yakumo  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai  
Danger Level: Unknown (see Addendum)  
Aggression Level: Low (see Addendum)  
Occupation: Unknown  
Date of birth: Unknown (likely *gapped*)  
Birthplace: Unknown  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Golden  
Hair: Blonde  
Weapon: Danmaku, gaps, parasol, onmyōdō spells, her shikigami

Special Ability: Manipulation of boundaries

Capable of manipulating any and all kinds of boundaries. Extends to any boundary that can be defined in a recognizable way..

Addendum: Specifically because of the semantic nature of her power Yukari seems to be almost omnipotent, although she admitted she actually isn't. However, because of her alien logic and humor sense, caution is advised when she is present. - Kokonoe

Oh, you flatter me~ - Yukari


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue**

* * *

 **\- 129/05/13 Gensokyo, Human Village -**

As it has been agreed upon, we were waiting for Mokou in front of the village gates. Makoto was reading the copy of [Gensokyo Chronicles] she bought yesterday while I prepared our supplies. Thankfully, there were a few shops selling long-term food in case something went wrong. After about half an hour of waiting the yakitori girl came from around the corner, not worse for the wear despite the early hour. We discussed a few details regarding our trip and set out.

Bamboo Forest of the Lost was located just south of Human Village. We'd go there on our own, but apparently Mokou was one of the few people who were capable of navigating the place. I realized why as we entered the forest: there was a particularly strong, though subliminal spell that brought one's sense of direction to Celica's level inside of it. Mokou seemed to be completely unaffected, however. _Speaking of Celica... I wonder how she's doing. When brother was... captured by Izanami, she was devastated, and I haven't seen her ever since. I'll have to ask Kokonoe when we return._

"Say, Mokou-san, how come you aren't affected by this disorientation spell?" Makoto asked.

"Years of practice, is all." the girl responded with a shrug.

"In usage of magic or in traversing this place?" I asked.

Mokou didn't answer that question, though.

* * *

"Hey, are those rabbit beastkin?" Makoto asked me as she pointed somwhere in the bushes. Indeed, there was a pair of girls with rabbit ears, wearing pink nightgowns and... pounding mochi?

"Actually, they're rabbits that sorta work at Eientei. Watch out for their leader though. Her pranks can end nasty." Mokou answered for me. _So, beastkin here are treated as a kind of youkai... That would explain why the villagers reacted at Makoto like that._

"Rule number one: never underestimate what beastkin can do." the squirrel said with a wink. _Whatever._

As time passed, we began to see more and more rabbits doing various chores or running around aimlessly. _Tch. Noel would have a field day with those..._ In the meantime, Makoto once again tried to make conversation with our guide.

"So... How would you describe life in Gensokyo?"

"...A little crazy if anything. If you care about the incidents."

"Incidents?" I asked.

"Once in a while, some youkai decide to screw with whole Gensokyo, though it's rarely something serious. Things like 'hiding the moon' or 'making spirits fly around', though we had to deal with a youkai uprising last year." Mokou elaborated as she lit a cigarette.

"Okay... that does sound pretty crazy. I wonder how people here can live like this." Makoto said.

 _Academy times, Makoto._ "And you take part in those events, I presume?" I asked Mokou.

"Nah. I'm just a health-obsessed girl who runs a yakitori stand."

 _That sounded a little too specific for me..._

* * *

Finally we arrived at Eientei. It was a large, old-fashioned Japanese mansion, somewhat similiar in style to the Hakurei shrine. As we entered the grounds, Reisen bumped into us. She didn't have her beret - as such, we could see that she was actually one of those rabbit beastkin.

"Oh, h-hey there. I didn't expect you two to come here today."

"We decided to show up anyway." Makoto said. "Funny how I didn't notice that you're a beastkin as well."

"Beastkin?" Reisen asked. I noticed Mokou sneaking away to talk with some rabbits.

"The outside world rediscovered the beastkin quite some time ago." I said. _That is, according to our chronology._ "It's not a big surprise to see rabbit beastkin, even though they aren't common."

"Actually..." Reisen started, but somebody went out from the mansion. The woman had a long silver braided hair, which reminded me of that _damn Murakumo bitch who stole my brother from me_. She wore a peculiar, blue-red dress that changed is color scheme both at the middle (vertically) and at the waist, as well as a blue nurse cap. She also carried a bow for some reason.

"Who might those people be, Udonge?" she said as she turned to Reisen.

"Those are the Outsiders I told you about yesterday, shishō."

"Oh, so you're looking for employment." the woman said as she turned to us. "My name is Yagokoro Eirin. As you may have heard, I run a pharmacy here. Before you start to work here, however, I must ascertain your level of medicinal knowledge. Shall we come inside?"

"Of course." I said. Something about that woman unsettled me, though, and it wasn't the fact that she was from an ancient, unknown race. Nor was it about her uncanny resemblance to _that Murakumo_.

* * *

 **\- Eientei -**

The mansion might have been large from the outside, but I could swear it was much larger on the inside. The numerous corridors, sliding doors and turns didn't help. Finally Eirin went through a door, both me and Makoto following. Reisen stayed in the corridor, however.

The three of us sat at a table as a rabbit brought some tea. After a few minutes, Eirin spoke to me.

"First of all, could you put aside that blade, Kisaragi-san?"

"I don't believe so. It's a memento of my...deceased sister." Both me and Makoto knew this was a lie, but frankly, given the circumstances Saya was as good as dead. Besides, without Yukianesa I felt a little powerless.

"If that is the case..." Eirin looked at me questioningly. _She doesn't trust me. Are they hiding something? Aside from belonging to an extraterrestrial civilization, that is._ "You don't look like a person who can be easily convinced." She turned to Makoto a few seconds later. "First question then. Do you have any experience working with medicine?"

* * *

Mokou stood outside of the room as she talked with Reisen. The rabbit seemed unusually nervous that day.

"What's bugging you, Reisen? You're never that nervous near humans... or other youkai, for that matter."

"No, it's just that..." the moon rabbit went silent for a second. "I can't shake this feeling that something awful is going to happen soon... Remember the youkai uprising incident?"

"Yeah...you say that there's gonna be another?"

"Probably... I just hope it will avoid Eientei as usual..."

"Don't worry." Mokou said, patting Reisen on the shoulder. "The miko and others will solve it and everyone is going to have a party at the end. As usual."

"Mhm..."

Reisen wasn't convinced, though. The feeling of something being completely... _wrong_ didn't leave her.

"Hey." Mokou started. "Whadd'ya say we go and grab a drink or two later today?"

"I can't... I'm supposed to be on guard duty tonight." Reisen said. The rabbits took shifts protecting the Princess, with the resident moon rabbit having most of the shifts. She didn't complain, though.

"Too bad." Mokou said as she took out another cigarette. "It'd really help you."

* * *

The interview went... oddly, to say the least. Most of Eirin's questions were pretty rational (and, dare I say, expectable), but some were very obscure, to the point where Makoto was able to answer only one of such, despite being considered one of the most knowledgeable people in the Intelligence... after Hazama was dishonorably discharged, that is. As the interview went, it started to seem like a very subtle interrogation... _Are the Lunarians that paranoid?_

Finally, the questions ended as Eirin cleared her throat.

"You seem to possess enough medical knowledge to treat most immediate illnesses and physical damage, as expected from experienced officers." she said. "I could hire you as part-timers here, but on one condition."

"That is?" Makoto said. _There's always a condition, isn't there?_  
"Whatever you would see here would not leave the confines of this mansion." She looked specifically at Makoto as she said that.  
 _I knew it... Shady drugs or something..._

"Well..." Makoto started, delaying the inevitable. "As our loyalties lay with the Novus Orbis Librarium, we cannot guarantee withholding knowledge about anything that can potentially affect the political situation of what you call the 'outside world'." _I wouldn't put it that way..._

"A pity. We could use somebody intelligent for a change." Eirin said as we stood up, the implication probably directed at rabbits. "However, should you need any fast gain, I'm open for suggestions."

"Thank you, Yagokoro-san." I said. We exited the room to find Mokou casually conversing with Reisen.

* * *

"So, how did it go?" the yakitori girl asked us after we said our farewells to Eirin and the rabbit.

"We'd pass if they weren't so secretive." Makoto said when we went far enough from Eientei. "And I'm sure she already has our psychological profiles. I can't lie to someone better than Hazama... I mean, my former boss at Intelligence." she clarified. "I wonder what technology they're hiding, though..."

"Yeah... Eirin is like that." Mokou said, shrugging.

"Do all the Lunarians act this way?" I asked. Makoto looked at me strangely, while Mokou scowled at me. I felt the temperature around us drop a few degrees, and for once it wasn't Yukianesa's fault.

"Who told you that?"

"The magic that filled the mansion." I lied my ass off. Jubei's training on recognizing magic helped a lot, though. _I'm sure Keine will appreciate the effort._  
"...heh. You're really sharp, aren't you?" Mokou asked after a moment, her scowl turning into a grin. "And with that youkai blade of yours..." _I didn't know Yukianesa could be classified as a youkai here._

"Wait, wait, wait!" Makoto shouted. "Could somebody tell me what's going on?"

"Since it's come to this, I may as well let the cat out of the bag." Mokou started. "Long story short, Eirin, Reisen and a...rival of mine were exiled from the Moon. A lifelong rival, if you know what I mean." She lit another cigarette. "Do you know what the Lunarians consider to be an irrevocable crime?"

Both me and Makoto shaked our heads.

"Pursuit of immortality."

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/03 6th Hierarchical City [Yabiko], Conference hall -**

Rachel Alucard had a lot of revelations in her impossibly long life. Every single timeloop imprinted itself on her memory strongly enough to be impossible to forget, as it was the case with every Observer. The sole amount of times she had to experience the same one-hundred years made the impossible boredom a part of her being, so she welcomed every chance to break out of the routine, though the [Doomsday] wasn't a particularly pleasant surprise. The revelations brought upon by Kokonoe at the meeting gave her mixed feelings, however.

"Let me get this straight." Kagura said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Jin and Makoto disappear in some abandoned shrine, and when Bullet got there, some chick with a fancy umbrella told you to go and get them yourself?"

"Something like that. And no offense, Rachel, but you won't stand a chance against her." the scientist beastkin said. There weren't many people who could possibly outsmart the Alucard heiress, but Kokonoe could recognize such people.

"Oh? And why, pray tell, do you believe so?"

"She scared damn Bullet into submission. Not even Azrael could do that, remember?"

Rachel had to give that point to the scientist. "I admit that this indeed was the case, but surely if she knows about Izanami, we could be able to recruit her to our cause."

"Then do your goddamn magic and talk her into this. I've had enough pseudoscientific abominations in my whole life, thank you very much."

"I don't want to interrupt, " Kagura said, turning to Kokonoe, "but don't we have to supervise Noellie for now?"

"She is more than prepared to handle herself now, Kagura." Rachel said, not skipping a beat. "Or should I remind you that she was the one who brought Mr. Hero out of his nearly disastrous confrontation with Ragna in Ibukido?"

"Yeah, I hear ya." Kagura replied. He was very fortunate that for once he hadn't drunk all night. "So, you're going there to talk with this Yakumo chick?"

"Yes, I believe so. In the meantime, do look into Embryo's state once more."

"Okay, but we might need Noel's Eye of the Azure abilities to pull anybody out of there, especially if we want to get Ragna."

"I am loathe to admit it, but this making this decision no longer lies within my capabilities." Rachel said. Noel's self-realization both as Mu-12 and as the Eye gave her not only power, but also much needed confidence, to the point that the Rachel had no other choice but to treat her as an equal.

"Okay, so we got that topic covered." Kagura said with a sigh. When this meeting was over, he was going to need a few drinks. "Has Tager recovered Bullet yet?" he asked Kokonoe.

"Last time I heard from him, they were on route to the Tokyo outpost." she responded as she leaned on her chair and took a sip of coffee. "They should be on the way to Kagutsuchi as we speak."

"Why Kagutsuchi and not Yabiko or Naobi?"

"I've heard that no airships, military or otherwise, are available in Tokyo, and Bullet is in too big of a shock to be left in Japan for too long. I think that this Yakumo bitch screwed with her pretty badly before Tager got there."

"...well, looks like we can't do much about it. Anything more to discuss or do we adjourn this meeting?" Kagura said as he shifted into a more comfortable position.

"No, that should be everything for now." Rachel said, with Kokonoe nodding her agreement.

"In that case, let's move to work, everybody."

"An unexpected choice of words from someone of your attitude, Kagura, but I agree nevertheless." the vampire said, with Kagura wincing at her snark.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/13 Gensokyo, Bamboo Forest of the Lost -**

"What do you mean, 'pursuit of immortality'? " I asked Mokou. The mood changed pretty unexpectedly.

"It's just that. Lunarians are already pretty long-lived, but immortality is a taboo in their culture, from what I heard." she shrugged. "So, when a princess asked Eirin for an elixir of immortality, called Hourai Elixir, she ended up exiled. After she drank it, of course."

"A moon princess?" Makoto asked. "I remember hearing a Japanese fairy tale about a moon princess..."

"Yeah. She's the same as the one I'm talking about." _The same as the one in the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter?..._

"And," Mokou continued, "My father was one of the people that tried to fulfill her impossible requests." Mokou's voice started trembling with rage. "She tarnished the honor of our family. I needed my revenge on her... so, when me and another guy were tasked with disposal of a bottle of the elixir..."

"...you killed the man and drank it." Makoto finished for the girl and turned to me. "I think your feud with Ragna has just been one-upped, Jin."

"Not. A. Word. Squirrel." I said threateningly.

"Okay, okay." Makoto said. _She should know better than to insult my lifelong goal._

"So..." Makoto started awkwardly, "where does Eirin come here? Was she exiled with the princess?"

"No... from what I heard, she was supposed to pick her up after Kaguya's exile has ended, but she killed all the other envoys and they hid in this forest. I've only rediscovered them a few hundred years ago. Best time of my life, I tell you." Mokou said with a sadistic smile.

"Somehow, I highly doubt that killing somebody over and over can be that exciting." Makoto said. I, however, could relate to the girl's situation.

"After a thousand years, you look for anything that can be satisfying." _I wonder what she'd say about Rachel..._

"Anyway..." Mokou started, looking at Yukianesa, "I'm a little curious where did you get that sword from. It's a little too advanced even for Outsider standards."

"Well, now it's our turn to tell you something." I said, readying for Mokou's reaction. "Would you believe that whole Gensokyo has been 'out of time', so to speak, for almost two hundred years?"

"Bullshit."

"We can prove this." Makoto said.

"Bull. Shit. Even Lunarians aren't that powerful."

"I didn't say this was on purpose, merely that it happened." I shrugged. "However, there are mechanisms in the outside world that are capable of creating localized temporal anomalies." I said. "The desynchronization was caused by one of those devices being completed in a place close to the relative area of the Great Hakurei Barrier in the outside world."

"...that's deep. Do the miko and the gap youkai know?"

"Yeah, they... wait a sec. Who's the 'gap youkai'?" Makoto said.

"You could call her the biggest authority in Gensokyo. She's a slacker, though."

"Where could we find her?" I asked, while the squirrel started searching in the [Chronicle].

"It's not a matter of 'where', but 'when', that is, when she feels like." _Sounds exactly like Rachel... That reminds me..._

"Wouldn't she happen to wear ribbons like this one?" I said as I showed Mokou the ribbon we picked up before we crossed the Barrier.

"Her gaps wear ribbons like those." she said.

"Gaps?" Makoto asked, looking away from the book. "Jin, do you think that this is the Observer who stalked us in District 1?"

"Probably."

"If you caught her attention before you crossed the Barrier," Mokou said with a shrug, "then you won't leave Gensokyo soon." That complicated matters. Since Reimu hadn't agreed to send us back to Japan immediately, then we would be stuck here until this 'gap youkai' has changed her mind, and if she had similar mindset to Rachel, then it wouldn't come easy.

"We were against worse odds in the past. Something like this won't stop us, right Jin?"

"Yeah... We are still needed in the outside."

* * *

 **\- Gensokyo, Hakurei Shrine -**

It was one of these days that Reimu got an actual visitor who wasn't either a passerby or one of those mooches who tried to get to her liquor stash. True, she had a visit from a pair of Outsiders the other day, but that was pretty normal. Their revelations, though, were anything but, even by Gensokyo standards. Which is why her long-time friend was continuously pestering her to open the barrier for just a few minutes.

"C'mon Reimu, it won't take long! I'll be back before you know it!"

"You know I can't do that, Marisa." Reimu said to the girl. She knew how much the blond witch wanted to see how the Outside world handled magic and frankly, she was a bit curious herself, but she had no idea how Yukari would react. "Besides, you could always go look for those Outsiders. They wield magic as well."

"Easy for you to say, ze." Marisa scoffed. "I''m not well liked in the village these days, you know?

"Then why don't you just blast the hell out of them like you always do?"

"And lose potential customers? No way."

"You're contradicting yourself."

"Who cares? I surely don't!" the witch shouted. After finishing her tea, she stood up and took her broom. "You're right, though. Sitting in one place won't help much."

"So, you're going after all?" Reimu asked Marisa, who sat on the broom and slowly risen up in the air.

"Yeah. Can't let those two wait, ze!" she responded as she took off on the direction of the village.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/03 Japan, Tokyo -**

Tager knew that Bullet should be better than that, and he thanked Noel for that knowledge - she actually pestered Kokonoe for so long that the scientist, after countless pleas, arguments and so forth finally agreed to the blonde's 'suggestion' and restored Tager's memory. Of course, it came with a price - he was more independent from that point, but he didn't mind continuing to serve as Kokonoe's assistant and field operator. However, when he heard about Bullet, Tager volunteered for the job. It was his duty as her former leader to protect those who served under him, after all. Now the woman was unresponsive. Whatever she went through, he didn't ever want to know, and Bullet herself didn't answer.

Both of them waited for their ship to arrive as he decided to update Kokonoe on their status. He thought he noticed somebody familiar, but on closer inspection he concluded that this wasn't the case and pulled out his long-range communicator to call his master-turned-employer.

"Kokonoe, this is Tager. We are currently waiting for our ferry, which should arrive in twenty minutes."

"I got that. How's she?" the scientist asked.

"Not good. She doesn't want to talk at all."

"Tch. Well, we can't do much right now. Anything else?"

"No, that would be all."

"Okay then. By the way, if you meet Rachel there, just tell her the details."

"Roger that." the Red Devil said as he turned off the communicator. The whole situation seemed too abnormal to him, though. He knew that even Azrael wasn't enough to traumatize Bullet like that, so whatever - or whoever - that was, they had to make her go through memories of their last, botched mission. Anybody would be devastated by such a thing, and he knew that Bullet was too tough to let anything less than that leave a mark on her psyche.

"...hey, leader." Bullet said, startling Tager.

"Yes?" he said, relieved that she started to get out of her shock.

"You said back there... that you'll destroy whoever did this to me, right?"

"I did say so."

"In that case..." she said, finally raising her head, "a bit of info: don't piss her off, no matter what."

Tager didn't ask.

* * *

The green-haired man didn't expect those two to be there. When he managed to get out of their FOV, he sighed with relief. The odds seemed to stack against him, though he noticed that only the Red Devil would be a problem - the mercenary was clearly broken and while he was irritated that it wasn't him who did that, he mentally praised whoever managed to break her. He didn't have much time, though. He needed to reach the lab before his last batch of painkillers ran out, so as soon as he left the port, the man paid a redneck with a jeep to drive him to [District 1]. The driver needed a little 'persuasion', but it wasn't like he gave his 'passenger' too many problems. Of course, once they were at their destination, the green-haired man would have to dispose of him... or he could use him as stress relief.

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM THE GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Reisen Udongein Inaba  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai (Moon rabbit)  
Danger Level: Unknown*  
Aggression Level: Low  
Occupation: Medicine seller  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Moon  
Blood type: Unknown/NA  
Eyes: Red  
Hair: Violet  
Weapon: Danmaku, various firearms

Special Ability / Drive: Eyes of Madness

Capable of inducing psychosis with her eyes. Supplementary abilities include detection and manipulation of various electromagnetic waves, including ones from the visible spectrum.

* According to the [Gensokyo Chronicle].

Name: Eirin Yagokoro  
Gender: Female  
Race: Lunarian  
Occupation: Pharmacist  
Date of birth: Unknown (immortal)  
Birthplace: Unknown, presumably Moon  
Blood type: Unknown  
Eyes: Black  
Hair: Silver  
Weapon: Danmaku, possibly magic

Special Ability: Drug creation

Capable of making any drug, even for unknown and/or incurable diseases if provided with ingredients. The drugs cannot require a physically impossible process during production, but can utilize abilities of other people.

Name: Fujiwara no Mokou  
Gender: Female  
Race: Human  
Occupation: Bamboo Forest guide, yakitori stand owner, Kaguya's rival (self-proclaimed)  
Date of birth: circa AD 750 (immortal)  
Birthplace: Unknown, presumably Japan  
Blood type: Unknown  
Eyes: Red  
Hair: Silver  
Weapon: Danmaku, sorcery, fire (see below)

Special Ability / Drive: Undying Inferno

In addition to functional immortality and intricate knowledge of sorcery, capable of manipulating flames of various size and intensity. Usually invokes phoenix imagery during battles.

Name: Kaguya Houraisan  
Gender: Female  
Race: Lunarian  
Occupation: Lunarian princess (formerly), Mokou's rival  
Date of birth: Unknown (immortal)  
Birthplace: Moon  
Blood type: Unknown  
Eyes: Brown  
Hair: Black  
Weapons: Danmaku, the Five Impossible Requests

Special Ability: Manipulation of eternity and instant

Capable of locking a person, object or an area in temporal stasis, making them impervious to all change. This ability is used in creation of the Hourai Elixir. Also capable of performing actions in infinitely short amounts of time, even creating temporary parallel timelines.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everybody :) This chapter was the hardest to write so far, had to rewrite the scene with Rachel a few times, but I'm still not quite satisfied with it. Anyway, please R&R!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue**

* * *

 **\- 129/05/13 Gensokyo, Human Village -**

Mokou left us at the entrance to the Bamboo Forest saying that she actually lived there, not in the village. We didn't need much assistance from that point, since the only youkai that tried to attack us were the harmless fairies. Since we still had a good amount of money from yesterday's work, we spent the rest of the day on creating reports on people and youkai we encountered over these two days. Makoto was checking the [Gensokyo Chronicle] for any interesting facts that we could include, like special powers and such.

"Hey Jin, this must be the gap youkai Mokou was talking about." my squirrel companion said as she turned to another profile. I leaned over from the desk to check it. _Yukari Yakumo ..._

"Hm. 'Very youkai-like', they say?... Think we might get another Rachel?" I asked, trying to joke.

"Two Rachels? Hell no. I already can't stand the original sometimes. Good thing she doesn't treat Noel like trash since the Doomsday."

"Tch..." _She just had to mention her now, didn't she?..._ "I wonder how Tsubaki's doing, though..."

"As in, unless she's already in Japan? When she hears what happened, she'll first go medieval on Kokonoe's butt and then go to Japan to rescue us, I presume." Makoto said. "Now that I think about it... You two haven't met for the last month, have you?" she added after a few seconds.

"No, we didn't. She told me what happened back then in Kagutsuchi, though." I said, lowering my head. "A pity we couldn't find Hazama back in Ibukido... I'd make sure a few hundreds of timelines worth of karma would have caught up to him."

"Me and Noel would surely help out." Makoto said. "But at least there's one good thing that came out of the Mind Eater."

"Yes... Tsubaki's eyesight won't deteriorate so fast." I said. _Funny... We were supposed to meet after I'd finished this assignment... She's going to be so mad when she gets here... Rachel will try to stop her from leaving, since that would jeopardize the backup..._ "Back to the topic, though. The article doesn't say where we can find this youkai..."

"Looks like another visit to the shrine will be needed." Makoto said as she turned to another page, searching for more people we met.

* * *

As the evening neared, I left the house we were renting to buy some rice and fish. On the way to the marketplace, I noticed a girl with shoulder-length blond hair wearing an oversized black witch hat and a matching black dress with a white apron, holding a bamboo broom and seemingly looking for someone. Her appearance matched the description of an 'ordinary witch of Gensokyo' I was given the other day. She must have noticed I was looking at her, since she turned in my direction.

"Hey, you must be one of those Outsiders who came two days ago, ze!" she said as she walked up to me. "The name's Kirisame Marisa."

"Yes, we've already heard of you." I said. Marisa seemed to by pleasantly surprised.

"Of course you did. Everybody knows about the Ordinary Witch of Gensokyo, after all!" she said with a grin. "Anyway, Reimu told me that Outsiders rediscovered magic, right?"

"If you want to talk about that, we should go to our house." I said, gesturing for Marisa to follow.

A few minutes later, we were back at the rented house. Makoto was surprised that I brought a girl with me, while Marisa probably didn't expect somebody like the squirrel.

"A youkai?" the blond girl said.

"Nope, a beastkin. Jin, that's the witch you were talking about?"

"Yes." I said, introducing the girls to each other.

"So, what's your brand of magic?" Marisa asked.

"It's a combination of magic and technology, called Ars Magus. Much easier to use than pure magic." Makoto said and started chanting a simple illumination Ars. A ball of light appeared in the air, resting on a magical circle. "Jin is much better at it than me." she said, not satisfied with the result.

"Looks like legit magic to me, ze. Do you have anything stronger though?" Marisa said.

"There are weapons imbued with specific Ars, collectively called Ars Armagus." I said. "The strongest level, though, are a set of nine weapons called Nox Nyctores."

"You mean, with much stronger enchantments?"

"Not really. Crafting Nox-class weapons is a classified topic, but let's say you wouldn't want to experience it." Makoto said. "Oh, and if you want to have a look, Jin's blade is a Nox-class weapon."

"Makoto..." I said, miffed by her careless revealing what was considered a state secret by now.

"Don't worry, I won't break it." Marisa said as she took Yukianesa from its stand. "Hmm... looks like a youkai blade to me, maybe even a tsukumogami."

"Well, it's certainly old enough to be one." Makoto said. "Though it's not the strongest Nox-class weapon."

"Really? Did Outside World progress this far, ze?"

"It's complicated." I said, and noticing how Marisa eyed Yukianesa, I added "No, you can't borrow it."

"Aw man..." she said. "Can I at least draw it?"

"See if you can." I said. The witch tried a few times, but all attempts were unsuccessful.

"Is it stuck or what?"

"Nox Nyctores choose their wielders." I said, taking Yukianesa from the blond and placing the blade back on the stand.

"Anyway, this Ars Magus thing does look like a good introduction to magic." Marisa said.

"You could say that, but Ars require magical fuel, so to speak, to function. This doesn't seem to be the case in Gensokyo, however."

"Of course!" the witch exclaimed loudly, throwing her arms up. "Gensokyo is a land of magic! How could it not work, ze?"

She had a point. Besides, we were reminded on numerous times that common sense doesn't work in this place.

"Anyway, do you know where could we find Yukari Yakumo?" Makoto asked.

"The gap hag? You might get a shot at Hakugyokurou."

"Where is that?" I asked as Makoto looked for the name in the [Chronicle].

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/03 Japan, Hakurei Shrine -**

Rachel Alucard arrived at the designated location without any problems, though it certainly took her much time due to overexertion back in [Yabiko]. She wasn't excited about meeting Yukari. Her familiars, on the other hand, couldn't stop chatting about the enigmatic woman. Rachel soon grew tired of the banter.

"I will remind you that we are currently in hostile territory, so your gossips have a very low priority." she said with her usual, bored tone. "Or should I make my point go across with a more direct approach?"

"N-no, there's no need, P-princess." Nago responded, fully knowing what 'direct approach' would look like.

The vampire looked around the shrine. She could feel the ancient magic flowing around, though there were seemingly two layers of it - one separating something inside from reality, but the older one?... The barrier seemed weaker near the shrine, as well.

"Gii, see if you can find anybody on the premises." Rachel said to her familiar.

"Right away, Princess!" the red bat said and flew away. Soon after he came back with a woman, however, it wasn't Yukari. The woman had yellow eyes, shoulder length blond hair, a two-tailed mob cap with many yellow ofuda and a light purple and blue dress with vertical print on the blue part. Her most defining trait, though, were nine fluffy tails.

"Greetings, miss Alucard. I'm the shikigami of Yakumo Yukari and will speak on her behalf. My name is Ran." the woman said, bowing. "Unfortunately, master couldn't arrive, so she send me instead."

"I understand." Rachel said. She was a little annoyed that the gap youkai relegated the diplomatic work to her familiar - she couldn't imagine Nago in such a situation, Gii even less so. "Your master is withholding two NOL officers of high importance in Gensokyo."

"Yes, I've heard of that. Jin Kisaragi and Makoto Nanaya, correct?" Ran said politely.

"Indeed. However, we cannot allow them to be unavailable for any period of time. I must ask you to release them immediately."

"I understand your concern, miss Alucard," the kitsune started, her polite smile becoming a sad one, "however, master Yukari decided to have them stay in Gensokyo for some time."

"And why would be that?"

"She did not choose to disclose this information even to me."

This made the whole diplomatic meeting not just awkward, but completely pointless. It was rare for Rachel to feel fooled like this, but being deprived of teleportation magic and unable to locate Yukari so she could enact proper retribution for this selfish and highly illogical act, the vampire admitted defeat. If Ran could read Rachel's mind, she would agree - it wasn't the first time her master didn't inform her about any details. She could only try to figure out what her master meant by 'they will be certainly interesting', despite her intellect. Neither she could understand why Yukari chose to withhold the man she called 'the world's Antibody'. She didn't have a choice but to obey, though.

"In this case, could you inform her that we shall hold a proper meeting tomorrow in Yabiko tomorrow at 2 PM?" Rachel asked, trying her best not to facepalm.

"I will, miss Alucard." Ran said as she bowed once again. "And off the record, if the decision was truly mine to make, both of your subordinates would be on their way here." The vampire felt somewhat relieved by that.

As Ran turned to leave for what was presumably a fixed entry point, Rachel asked her "By the way, do you possess any means to provide information about Gensokyo?"

"I'll see what I can do." the kitsune answered and left the clearing.

As much as Rachel held the gap youkai in contempt for such treatment, she couldn't say a bad word about her familiar. If only Nago and Gii could be this proper and useful...

* * *

 **\- 129/03/13 Gensokyo, Human Village -**

We learned that Hakugyokurou was a ghost shrine in Netherworld, whatever that was supposed to mean. The mistress of the shrine, Yuyuko Saigyouji, was supposedly good friends with the elusive 'gap hag', so we had a real chance of finding her there. Marisa also told us that we needed to go to the Youkai Mountain to reach the shrine, so both me and Makoto started making preparations. Because she overexerted herself yesterday, her wound from our night battle with Rumia started acting up again despite the healing Ars and had to stay at our rented house. This left me much free time for the rest of the day after buying supplies and carrying them back.

The gossips in the village and the [Chronicle] only gave so much information to work with, so I bought today's issue of a newspaper called Bunbunmaru. Although the quality of articles was... questionable and the topics were rather bland, the newspaper did provide some insight into Gensokyo's daily life. As I was going back to our house, I felt somebody watching me. It wasn't the same unnerving feeling as when Yukari was watching, but the one I usually felt when hunted by paparazzi a few months after the [Ikaruga Civil War]. I turned around and saw a girl floating in the air. She had mid-back length black hair and two black wings. She wore a white blouse with a short black skirt, as well as a tokin hat and a pair of red geta sandals, although they had only one high slat as opposed to two the usual version had. _If my mythology is right, this must be a crow tengu..._ I noticed that she carried, to my disgust, a camera and a notebook. The girl landed on the ground and waved at me.

"Hi! You must be one of those Outsiders the black-white mentioned." _Black-white... She must mean Marisa..._

"If you want an interview, then we're not interested." I said with practiced tone.

"That's a low blow, you know..." the girl said with a frown, which soon gave room to a smile. "I see you're reading my newspaper."

"So you're the one writing this thing." I said. _A tengu writing a gossip-driven newspaper. If this keeps up, my sanity will take a well-earned leave._

"Do you have something against journalists or what?" she said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"He was something of a celebrity for some time, that's all." Makoto said, suddenly appearing. _She can't keep her mouth shut, can she..._

"Ooh, a celebrity you say?" she asked, her tone taking a complete 180. "Now I gotta make an interview with you!"

 _Oh, for God's sake..._

* * *

The tengu, Shameimaru Aya, turned out not to be what I would expect from a usual paparazzo. Although she was very excited about making an interview with an 'Outside celebrity', she asked thorough and logical (for once) questions, and mostly about the world's state. Some of the personal ones were pretty uncomfortable, though. Makoto teasing me certainly didn't help.

Finally, Aya was done with her questions and wanted to leave, but the squirrel stopped her.

"You said the tengu live on the Youkai Mountain?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"You see, we're going to Hakugyokurou-"

"Sorry, can't show you around, but I could at least inform the higher-ups that you'll be passing through."

"The tengu are organized?" I asked.

"You don't even know. Details are classified, though." Aya said, shrugging. "You're from the military, so you should understand."

 _You, on the other hand, should have said that before you asked about the battle of Wadatsumi..._

"Could you then at least inform border patrols or whatever there are that we don't pose any threat?" I said. If a physical battle against even a mid-strength youkai could end up with us being eaten alive (or at least maimed), I wouldn't want to fight an actual trained squad of them, Power of Order or not.

"That I can do." the crow tengu said, raising her hand for a high-five. _Such an immature gesture._ She looked a little sad when I didn't follow, and turned to Makoto. "Is he always this unfunny?"

"That's Jin for you." she replied.

"Oh well. At least I've got something big for my newspaper. Make sure to buy tomorrow's issue!" Aya said as she left the house.

I looked at the beastkin beside me. "Makoto, you do realize that we are trying to go back to Japan as soon as possible?"

"Pull that stick out of your butt once in a while, Jin. Can't you enjoy whatever good is in our situation?"

I couldn't enjoy myself in this land of crazy, unlike her. This place had already proven itself to be utterly lacking common sense (sans a few characters), so there was no point in prolonging our stay here. I tried to argue, but the squirrel continued to say 'when we take Izanami down, I'm coming here on vacation'.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/03 Japan, [District 1] -**

The green-haired man parked the jeep near the entrance to the complex. He was forced to off the old fart who somehow recognized him and tried to shoot him in the face with an old saw-off. At least the pain started to subside, so the Cauldron must have been still operable, at least to a small extent. The man entered the lab and took the elevator directly to his old collaborator's lab. As he was about to enter, he noticed that there were numerous shoeprints in front of the sealed door. Somebody was sniffing around, he thought. Readying his butterfly knives, he walked up to the voice recognition panel and pushed the button below the mic.

" _Please state your name and business._ "

"Hazama, former NOL Intelligence captain." the man said, knowing that he didn't need to provide a reason for his visit.

" _Welcome, Mr. Hazama. Activating backup power supply._ " the laboratory's AI responded, opening the door which otherwise had to be raised with an emergency valve-operated hydraulic system. Hazama entered the laboratory as if it was his own home. He could say it was, in a way.

He checked the cameras for any intruders and, making sure that he's the only one in the lab, he started turning on various screens, panels and outside monitoring devices. On his way to the Cauldron control panel Hazama noticed that one of the computers was already on. He went to it and looked over the action logs.

"Hmm... looks like somebody was really snooping around... seems to be that damn squirrel's job." he muttered to himself. Makoto Nanaya screwed over his plans a few times too many, in one timeline almost reverting his...thorough encouragement of First Lieutenant Garbage and bringing him close to a very embarrassing situation. If he found her somewhere here, he'd make sure to gut her _nice and slowly_.

Even if she was still around here, though, she didn't have anything to come back here for since she already dumped all the available information. Hazama sighed and went to the control panel. The Cauldron was destroyed, but it wasn't killed, so everything it needed was a little jump start, though the Lynchpin negated all attempts to do so. As he went to reactivate the food supplier, Hazama once again felt this strange, almost magnetic interest with the area around the Yatsugatake range. He was certain that somebody of considerable power had been using Intervention on him, but for what goal, he didn't know. After all, there was nothing interesting there besides a curious anomaly in electromagnetic fields, probably caused by the malfunctioning Cauldron. And yet the feeling persisted.

Hazama spend the next two hours reactivating more advanced systems, especially those used for mass data analysis and long-range Observation. He then recalibrated one of the real-time cameras to monitor the area this Intervention bugged him about to prove to himself that it wasn't worth the effort. As he looked around with the camera, he noticed a familiar sight - specifically, a vampire dressed in gothic lolita fashion and wearing ribbons resembling rabbit ears.

"Yare yare, the world is small indeed." he muttered to himself. Maybe this area was important after all?... And why was this shitty vampire standing in front of an abandoned Shinto shrine, of all places?

Perhaps a visit would be of some use after all.

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM THE GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Marisa Kirisame  
Gender: Female  
Race: Human  
Occupation: Witch  
Date of birth: circa 1995 AD  
Birthplace: Gensokyo, presumably Human Village  
Blood type: Unknown  
Eyes: Golden  
Hair: Blonde  
Weapon: Danmaku, magic

Special Ability / Drive: Love Magic

Capable of using magic of any kind.

Name: Ran Yakumo  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai (Kitsune)  
Danger Level: High  
Aggression Level: Low  
Occupation: Shikigami to Yukari Yakumo  
Date of birth: circa 1200 AD  
Birthplace: Unknown  
Blood type: Unknown / NA  
Eyes: Golden  
Hair: Blonde  
Weapon: Danmaku, her own shikigami

Special Ability: Shikigami

Capable of using shikigami despite being one herself. Additional abilities include superb mathematical knowledge.

Name: Aya Shameimaru  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai (Crow tengu)  
Danger Level: High  
Aggression Level: Low  
Occupation: Newspaper writer, reporter  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Unknown  
Blood type: Unknown/NA  
Eyes: Red  
Hair: Black  
Weapon: Danmaku, hauchiwa fan

Special Ability / Drive: Crow of the Tempest

Capable of manipulating wind, not only for battle purposes. Additional abilities include flying with speed exceeding Mach 5.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue**

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/04 6th Hierarchical City [Yabiko], Airship Port AM 10:00 -**

Kagura Mutsuki once again felt he'd have done better to not get up this morning, and it was one of those days in which the cause wasn't drinking too much alcohol the day before. Not only he had to get up quickly to get to Yabiko on time (even though his presence wouldn't do much help anyway), but also had to mentally prepare for a meeting that could even not happen at all. What he didn't expect was meeting Tager right after leaving the airship.

"What're you doing here, Red Devil?" he asked.

"Kokonoe asked me to oversee the proceedings and gather as much data as possible." he replied in his usual stoic tone.

"I should've known... Well, wonder if we're going to meet that youkai lady in my old place or maybe somewhere more fancy."

"Rachel didn't tell you anything?" Tager asked.

"No, she was too pissed. You would be too if somebody hinted at you to go meet her only to send someone else without informing them what the hell's going on." Kagura shrugged. If the same thing happened again, they would need more drastic approach... and, considering what Kokonoe said about Bullet's state after meeting Yukari and engaging in battle with her, that didn't bode well. The two men walked in silence for some time, when Tager's radio started ringing.

"What's your status, Tager?" the cat scientist asked.

"I'm currently on route to the branch with the general."

"Change of plans. That Yakumo woman called us and said she won't go anywhere near the Cauldron, regardless its state. We're going to the Colosseum."

"Roger that." Tager said. He turned to Kagura, who nodded in agreement.

* * *

Kokonoe actually understood that nobody whose body was basically composed of magic wouldn't want to approach the Cauldron, but not wanting to meet in a formal and easily controlled environment set off a few alarms in her head. Because of that, she considered calling Tsubaki for assistance, but ultimately decided against it - should she hear of Jin's disappearance, there would be no stopping her from attacking Yukari. Noel was an ideal choice, since she got quite stable since she had come to terms with her nature and would be rational enough to not lash out at the visiting youkai. Which was why she had been called from Naobi on short notice and was currently making a checkup on Bolverk.

"They're good to go, I guess." the blond girl said as she finished the routine dis- and reassembly process of the salvaged Nox.

"Then there's no much I can do for you, kid. Just remember, she might be trying to mess with us, so stay sharp."

"I will, Professor." she said, bowing politely and leaving the small lab. Soon, Noel was left with her own thoughts. She knew that the situation with the [Embryo] was already problematic enough, despite the possibility of her synchronizing with Lambda to speed up search for Ragna. Discovering this pocket reality (as Kokonoe started calling Gensokyo) was like finding a wild card in this up to now fully recognized world of foes and allies. What side would those youkai end up on, Noel wasn't sure.

Half an hour after exiting Kokonoe's lab, the blond girl arrived at the Colosseum. It was still an hour before the designated time, so she had enough time to scan the surroundings. She soon noticed Rachel, Tager and Kagura conversing about something, so she quickly joined.

"Well, you're somebody I didn't expect here, Noellie." Kagura said, folding his arms.

"Professor Kokonoe called me for assistance."

"It isn't a very wise decision to pull you away from your work on Embryo, but considering that youkai's unpredictability it might be needed." Rachel said as the whole group moved to the table which has been set up beforehand.

Of course, Yukari chose to be fashionably late for the meeting, as well as bringing Ran to act as her bodyguard, not like she needed any. Noel and Tager stood as 'bodyguards' for the NOL side, though Yukari did have an idea why an oni cyborg and a girl who would fit in Gensokyo so well were used in such a simple fashion.

"You've certainly made us wait, Yakumo-san." Kagura started. "I'm General Kagura Mutsuki, this lady here is Rachel Alucard, and the cat beastkin is Professor Kokonoe, who will be joining the meeting through this holographic display." He gestured to the display, which showed the rater irate scientist.

"Seems like we all have made it." she said with a smile. "Shall we begin, then?"

* * *

 **\- 129/05/14 Gensokyo, Great Youkai Forest -**

The road to Hakugyokurou was quite long if you were incapable of flight. We learned this the hard way as we walked through the Great Forest located at the foot of the mountain. The canopy was thick enough to leave only a small amount of light through. We also had to fend off numerous annoying fairies. At some point, the atmosphere became... eerie, as if any luck we had started to abandon us. Suddenly, large amounts of danmaku started to surround us in spiraling patterns, and if it wasn't for whatever training those flying troublemakers gave us, we'd probably be overwhelmed. Makoto actually used high-velocity nonlethal bullet Ars in conjunction with her rifle to pick off the small balls of wool that fired off the danmaku while I baited any fairies that decided to join. We managed to take down the opposition without suffering any damage.

A few moments later, a woman with aquamarine hair tied in a peculiar double-ponytail tied by the ends and laying on her chest, as well as having an exquisite ribbon decorating it appeared in front of us. She was wearing a red dress decorated with white frills along the hem and an aquamarine spiral motif, a large white kerchief on top of the dress and knee-high black cross-laced boots, seemingly for lengthy mountain treks. I immediately noticed that the eerie aura was originating from her.

"You're really good at danmaku for Outsiders." she said, looking genuinely impressed.

"Thank the fairies. Who are you, anyway?" Makoto asked, still standing in a fighting stance. Before the woman could respond, I spoke.

"You aren't a human or a youkai...no, you possess a different aura." Indeed, this woman's presence gave me the same otherworldly feeling as Izanami did... though in this case it wasn't one filled with dread and the 'cold touch of death', but with something else... "Are you a goddess?" I asked.

"Wow. Not many Outsiders can recognize that." she said. "My name is Kagiyama Hina and yes, I'm a misfortune goddess. However, I must ask you to go back and..." she stalled for a moment, then looked intensely at me. _I'm starting to feel weird..._

"You carry within yourself great amount of misfortune, young man. If you want, I can take it away."

 _What an outrageous statement._ "I don't need anybody to take away a single one of my burdens. No good will come out of it." I said, trying to sound polite. "I don't have anything against you, but you'd do good not to push the subject and simply stand aside."

"I'd like to, but I can't let you go up the mountain. It's too dangerous for humans. Sorry." Hina sighed as she rised up in the air.

 **BGM: Dark Side of Fate**

She started spinning around as she shot numerous amulets and summoned more of those wool balls, which began to spew danmaku all around us. Makoto started to run around her and shooting while sliping between crisscrossing bullets and amulets. I, on the other hand, focused on waiting for a moment of relief to break her focus with a precision strike. It didn't take long before she tried to make a cheap shot at Makoto, which was when I struck.

"Musō..." I said as I created a large icicle and jumped on it, flying fast towards Hina. As I reached her, I jumped off the icicle to deliver a heavy falling slash. "Senshōzan!"

"Ah!" Hina yelped as she fell to the ground. "Aren't you supposed to fight danmaku with danmaku?"

"If you insist..." I said, generating large snowflakes around myself and hurling them at Hina. She avoided them with ease, though at the same time Makoto fired a Comet Cannon at her. Hina would be shot right in the head if she didn't notice the projectile at the last moment.

"Seems you don't want to play easy..." she sighed again, rising in the air once more as she pulled out a spell card. "Bad Luck Sign [Biorhythm of the Misfortune God]!"

Her declaration dispelled the wool balls and any remaining danmaku and amulets for a moment as she charged the spell card. Two seconds later, numerous intersecting spirals of bullets started flying all around her. It wasn't easy at all to avoid them, as at some moments danmaku from one spiral covered the gaps in other ones, but to say it was impossible was a stretch. However, this pattern made me regret never learning a flight Ars. Makoto was doing fine with her enhanced perception and fast reaction time, but I had a few moments when I've barely avoided being hit. This lasted for about half a minute, after which the spell card ended.

"I have to give you some credit, not many people are capable of timing out a Hard level card on foot. Good work." she told us before she started another volley of amulets, allowing us to catch some breath. It felt weird being complimented by an enemy, but I didn't have time for that. We resumed our game of cat and mouse a moment later. Since I actively took part in the 'dogfight' this time, we cornered Hina very fast despite the amount and complexity of her free pattern. She once again came close to hitting us, but when Makoto managed to somehow get within melee range, Hina fas forced to draw another card.

"Fate [Old Lady Ohgane's Fire]!" she said, declaring the spell card. I didn't expect a fire-based one from a misfortune goddess, but this was Gensokyo after all... I tried to counter some of the fireballs with snowflakes, but it seemed danmaku couldn't be deflected that easily. Makoto took to once again running circles around Hina, occasionally delving into the thick clouds of fireballs to take some potshots. I started to get dizzy from all those sudden turns, but complaining wouldn't help. I decided to use my trump card.

"Kokūjin..." I said as I held my arm horizontally in front of me, blocking numerous incoming danmaku with an energy shield. Time seemed to stop for a moment, which allowed me to change my stance to a savage horizontal slash right at Hina's stomach. "...Yukikaze!" The strike was powerful enough to break the spell card prematurely and send the curse goddess flying, making her collide with a tree. _I swear I've heard a bone crack._

"OWW!" she yelled in pain as she struck the tree trunk. "Okay, okay... You won... Oww, I think I broke my arm..." she said as she sat on the ground, holding her forearm.

"Tch. Let's move then. We've already lost enough time." I said, but Makoto was already right next to Hina, tending to her broken arm.

 _Soon, this is how Izanami will look... But before that..._

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/04 6th Hierarchical City [Yabiko], Colosseum -**

The meeting started pretty normally, though Yukari constantly danced around the issue of the two NOL officers stranded in Gensokyo. Kagura knew how this kind of women acted, so he and Rachel tried to steer the proceedings accordingly. However, the whimsical youkai had much more experience in diplomacy and, de facto, psychological combat. At some point Kokonoe got completely pissed and mentioned Izanami in a rant. This was the turning point - Rachel took the topic and mercilessly ran with it, which soon made Yukari drop the goofy facade, at least enough to avoid making this another waste of time. At least they were making some progress, Kagura thought.

"We do not know what will happen if Izanami finds a way to bypass Tsukuyomi's defense. While it is enough to protect a normal human even from the Boundary's corrupting effect, she might try to create something that works outside of the defined reality." Rachel said. She had a hunch, but she hadn't said a word about it, other than the fact that they must put Ragna out of his misery before he dies on his own.

"And he's now stranded inside this Embryo, right?" Yukari said. "You possess means to find him without help of those two, so why bother with this meeting?"

"We might be able to find him, but he's too damn powerful for us to even scratch him." Kokonoe said, still pissed. "Think 'monster that you can't even harm because he doesn't really fit in what you call reality'. We need every single person to kill him, especially Jin's Power of Order."

"In that case..." Yukari said, folding her hands like a certain bespectacled commander she once heard of, "why don't we help you with this?" After a moment of silence, she continued "Neither you nor I would want to experience the end of the world. Hence, we should be able to make an... agreement of sorts. I will help you with driving Izanami away from that girl's body."

"And what is it you want in exchange?" Rachel asked.  
"Let's see... What could I, an all-powerful youkai, want?" the youkai teased, leering at Kagura, who started to feel extremely uncomfortable. He could tell from the way she acted that Yukari was much older than even Rachel, so despite her youthful appearance (and constant playful reminding of being 'only 17') this kind of gaze gave him the creeps. If what he heard of the former Intelligence captain was true, he could even call her 'second Hazama'.

"Is something the matter, Kagura-san?" Yukari said with a playful smile.

"N-no, it's nothing." he stammered out, which only made the blond youkai stare at him harder.

"I don't mean to interrupt," Kokonoe said, seemingly annoyed, "but could you stop ogling him?"

"I don't see anything wrong in it, but if you insist..." Yukari said with a grin. Rachel was quite amused with the situation - for once Kagura had a taste of his own medicine - but unlike Kokonoe, she didn't even bother trying to hide it. Despite the first impression, she felt that the cunning youkai would make a good acquaintance.

"Okay, so since we got that settled," the black-haired general said, shuddering at the notion, but ready to do whatever was needed to save the world, "do we have a deal?"

"I would certainly say so." Yukari said, slouching in her chair and leering at him again, making him immediately regret his decision.

"Seconded." Kokonoe continued, this time dropping the mask of irritation and allowing herself to make a nasty smile aimed towards Kagura. "I'll have a few questions for you, so don't run away yet, Yukari."

"I agree as well. Your unexpected chivalry is trutly remarkable, Kagura." Rachel said, also with a light smile.

The only male by the table once again thought it would be the best for him not to get up this morning.

* * *

When the meeting was over (and the hastily-prepared document has been signed by all parties, though Yukari's request was left conveniently vague), the blond youkai gapped directly to Kokonoe's lab, while Kagura, Rachel and Tager left for the branch. Noel was officially off duty by now, but since it was too late to catch a civilian airship to Naobi, she decided to socialize with Ran, who was similarly left without any specific orders. Of course, Noel had went over her impression of Ran's tails as the meeting went, so the kitsune avoided any awkward situation. The duo entered one of the bars near Colosseum and made their orders.

"Fried tofu?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Ran said.

"You know... I always thought it was an addition instead of a meal in and of itself."

"If it's correctly prepared and seasoned, even pure fried tofu can be much better than meals from five-star restaurants." the kitsune said calmly. Noel couldn't help but doubt the shikigami's words.

Surprisingly, Ran got her order, and in an appropriate amount as well. The cook must know his mythology, she thought. Noel, on the other hand, widened her eyes in surprise.

"You're really going to eat this much?" she said.

"Of course. Youkai don't necessarily need food or rest, but we choose to for pleasure. You wouldn't believe how long Master likes to sleep."

"I'll guess then. Ten hours a day?"

"Close, but not enough. Twelve. And she hibernates during the winter."

"And I thought Makoto was a hard sleeper..." Noel sighed. "By the way, maybe you know how her and Kisaragi-chūsa are doing?"

"Unfortunately, I don't. They were in a safe place yesterday, but if they want to get out of Gensokyo fast, then they're probably trying to find Master as soon as possible."

"But Yukari-san is here..."

"True. They are probably trying to reach Hakugyokurou, if they connected the dots by now." Ran mused. Noticing Noel's questioning look, she clarified "Although they can run into some trouble on the way there, if they make it, then they have a fair chance. The mistress of Hakugyokurou is a friend of Master's."

"I can't imagine anybody befriending Yukari-san, no offense."

"None taken. In fact, they've been friends for longer than I live." Ran said, taking another bite of her tofu.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/15 Gensokyo, Youkai Mountain -**

Fortunately, it didn't take Makoto too much time to heal Hina's arm. The defeated misfortune goddess didn't hold a grudge over being forced to forfeit the battle - in fact, she even offered to take away our bad luck, whatever was that supposed to mean. I noticed a card had appeared in my pocket, but didn't say anything yet. A few minutes later we were ready to go.

Once we exited the forest, we saw that the sun had already set. Although it wasn't yet dark enough to walk, we decided to set up a makeshift camp (and a warding Ars, so that the fairies wouldn't steal our food again). We hoped to not be ambushed like during our first night in Gensokyo, and I had to admit, Hina's misfortune absorbing ritual worked - not a single youkai tried to attack us. Neither did fairies try to prank us. In the morning we resumed our march towards Hakugyokurou. Half an hour later, as we were passing near a waterfall, I once again sensed somebody watching us. I turned to Makoto, who nodded to indicate she sensed it as well. We continued to walk, though we readied ourselves for a battle. Strangely, no fairies showed up at all.

Finally, somebody appeared out of the waterfall. The woman ( _Who else? Do all youkai look like loli or adolescent women?_ ) wore a similar tokin hat and geta sandals as Aya. However, she had shoulder-length silver hair as well as wolf ears and a tail. She wore a white shirt with detached sleeves, similarly to Reimu, as well as a knee-length black skirt decorated with red flame motifs. She carried a large scimitar-like sword and a white shield with a red maple leaf print.

"I smell trouble." Makoto muttered to me.

"You are trespassing the Tengu territory, Outsiders. Turn your backs now and we can end this confrontation without unnecessary bloodshed." she said in a commanding tone.

"Calm down, please. We do not mean any harm. We want simply to reach Hakugyokurou." I said. "Aya Shameimaru was supposed to inform you."

"Shameimaru..." the wolf tengu scowled. "I should've known there will be problems. Kaori, go and confirm this information." she exclaimed and another tengu appeared from behind the waterfall, flying fast to the east. A few tense minutes later, the wolf tengu eased her stance.

"All right, you're not lying. However, I will accompany you to Hakugyokurou so you won't do any trouble." she said. _I think that ritual does have its merits after all._

"Thanks. I'm Makoto Nanaya, and this is Jin Kisaragi."

"Inubashiri Momiji," the wolf tengu replied.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/05 Japan, Hakurei Shrine -**

There weren't many things that could make Hazama curious. This barrier, however, both scared and intrigued him. How could he not have noticed something this massive before? How old it was? Who built it? What did it conceal and why? The questions were numerous, but only one way to find out - that is, to cross to the other side. However, despite being aware of the barrier thanks to the [Azure Grimoire], he couldn't figure out a way to poke even a small hole through it, and he feared to unleash the Grimoire since it could end up eating whatever seithr remained and leaving him once again crippled. Because of that, he turned to using weak disrupting magic, as mush as he could use it.

After numerous tries, Hazama stood almost completely exhausted, but the barrier's composition didn't change a bit. He bit his lip in irritation. He had to activate the Grimoire if he wanted to open a hole in the barrier, but the risks... He now regretted not leaving even a single capsule for replicating back in the lab. The barrier didn't give him any choice, though.

"Alright then, time for a gamble... Restriction 666 released, Dimensional Interference Field deployed." he said calmly as his body started flowing with energy. "Code S.O.L., [BlazBlue], activate."

Hazama's body was suddenly surrounded by a malicious green aura, signifying his empowered state, and in a flash expanded into a circle of life-stealing runes. Interestingly, simply the Grimoire being activated interfered with the barrier. "Hmm, how curious. The Grimoire feeds off the barrier, not the seithr..." he muttered to himself. He then tried to attack the barrier with the Azure energy, and was rewarded with a gaping hole in reality, which although wide enough to fit a Shebalve, was quickly repairing. Hazama didn't waste any time in getting to the other side. What he sensed there was beyond his imagination. Pure magical energy flew throughout the air, blowing like a gentle breeze in contrast to the raw, stinging and, in high concentrations, even choking seithr. All the plants were in perfectly healthy state, none of them showing any sign of corruption. He even sensed several strong entities composed of pure magic.

"Jackpot." he said to himself, smiling widely. He tried to make a hole back to make sure he could always return, and having created one, Hazama turned to explore this land of mystery. If Relius was here, he thought, they would have a shot at subduing Izanami and come back to the play, maybe more dangerous than Terumi has ever been...

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM THE GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Hina Kagiyama  
Gender: Female  
Race: Misfortune goddess  
Danger Level: Very High  
Aggression Level: Low  
Occupation: Collecting human misfortune, selling hina dolls (part-time)  
Date of birth: Unknown / N/A (immortal?)  
Birthplace: Unknown / N/A  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Aquamarine  
Hair: Aquamarine  
Weapon: Danmaku, stockpiled misfortune(?)

Special Ability: Stockpiling misfortune

Capable of collecting misfortune of humans and storing it in her surroundings. Said to involuntarily leak out misfortune to any people coming in contact with her.

Name: Momiji Inubashiri  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai (white wolf tengu)  
Danger Level: Medium  
Aggression Level: Low  
Occupation: Youkai Mountain patrol squad leader  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Unknown, probably Gensokyo  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Red  
Hair: White/Silver  
Weapon: Danmaku, sword  
Special Ability: Telegnosis

Capable of seeing a thousand ri (approx. 4000 kilometers) ahead.


	8. Chapter 8

Introducing two well-known characters in this chapter, you'll recognize them immediately if you're into BlazBlue. As for Touhou characters, I'm taking some liberties with fairies' memory span. Momiji still doesn't like Aya, though. As always, please R&R!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue**

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/05 Unknown -**

Two people, a man and a woman, were standing in front of a piece of very complicated machinery. They had been working very hard this past month to perfect it and were finally ready to test it. The man was especially eager - although he was nothing more than a servant by now, any piece of work capable of manipulating seithr in any way other than already known was a potential breakthrough, especially one that was supposed to construct something from it without utilizing crude processes like simple compression. Of course, what they wanted to reconstruct was anything but simple.

"So, what should be the test subject?" he said.

"We're going to try deconstructing a pair of rats." the woman replied. They had to be fast, though; Kushinada's Lynchpin rendered seithr inert very fast.

"Of course." he obediently replied, going for the cage with small, white lab rats and taking out a pair. He checked them for any characteristic signs or body defects, finding that one of them was blind in one eye and a small, barely noticeable scar on its left ear. "These should do." he said to himself, moving towards a small, black slab in the middle of the room. He placed the rats within the cage nearby and walked outside the designated circle.

"Shall we begin?" he asked the woman, who nodded. He then started muttering an incantation, activating the slab. In a few moments, the rats were vaporized and a set of detectors in the room indicated a rise in seithr levels. The woman turned on the device, which started displaying specific data about the cloud of newly-created seithr: density, particle sizes and, most importantly for this specific test, source subjects with their simulated models.

"Did both rats have any deformities?" the woman asked.

"No, only one." the man responded, trying to contain the seithr. He looked for a moment at the readings, noticing that one of the models had a blind eye, while the other had a scarred left ear.

"Well, it's not perfect, but neither it is completely worthless..." the woman muttered to herself. "I'm changing to in-depth scan." she said, flipping one of the switches on the machine's side. Models of the rats changed to wireframes and a set of cut-through images appeared to the left. The woman checked a few crucial places throughout the recreated models and, finding nothing wrong with their physical structure, once again changed the view, this time to DNA profiling. This time, the situation wasn't so perfect - various areas of the models were swapped between them, including the scarred ear of one of the subjects.

"We'll have to work on DNA recognition during remodeling phase after all." she said.

"Should we try for two different species, then?" the man asked, letting go of the enchantment. In the blink of an eye, the sensors indicated lack of seithr in the room.

"...Okay." the woman said, clearing the machine's internal buffers. The man went to the sets of cages and took out a white rat and a weasel, putting them inside the deconstruction cage. "Ready." he said and, when the woman nodded, he started casting the same incantation. This time, the machine properly showed models of the rat and the weasel, both of them perfectly recreated.

"So the algorithm has problems with recognizing the standard interspecies gene difference..." the woman said. "We'll try reconstruction next." she said.

"Of course. Did you take a good look at the models?" the man asked as he magically caged the seithr.

"Yes. Let's hope this will work." she said and pushed the 'Recreate' button.

A magic circle appeared on the floor, centered on the black slab. Soon after, the indicated levels of seithr started to decrease as piece by piece, the small rat was being rebuilt from raw, floating seithr. The process was slow, but the wait was worth it - the rat was recreated seemingly without fail.

"Let's check if it has its instincts intact." the man said, still holding the seithrificated weasel. He took a small wheat seed and threw it towards the rat. Surprisingly, it seemed disoriented, acting more like a weasel. The man confirmed it by throwing a sardine next, which the rat immediately tried to eat.

"Looks like we have to implement soul recognition as well..." the woman said.

"Of course. It might help with reconstructing entities that had their original bodies rendered inert." the man replied, seithrificating the almost-perfectly recreated rat and releasing the protective enchantment. "Still, this is an immense breakthrough..." he said to himself, excited with their current accomplishment. Maybe they could even analyze the raw seithr from the Boundary this way? Learn of the worlds long past? The possibilities were endless.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/15 Gensokyo, Youkai Mountain -**

Momiji proved to be a very cooperative woman, once you got past her suspicions. She explained to us a few things regarding the tengu military structure. For example, the wolf tengu served as patrol groups, while crow tengu - Aya included - made up the information and intelligence corps. We also learned that she had some kind of rivalry with Aya. Of course, Makoto just couldn't pass the chance to comment on me and my brother...

"So, what's your business at Hakugyokurou?" Momiji asked.

"We're hoping to find Yukari Yakumo there, or at least someone who knows her." Makoto said.

"You'll probably have more luck with the latter. Do you fly well?" she asked.

"Umm...no?" the squirrel said, smiling sheepishly. It was no wonder we couldn't - we were 'Outsiders', after all.

"Nobody told you?" Momiji asked. _Damn you, witch..._

"...Marisa chose to omit this information." I said, irritated. Even thought I could fly on an icicle, it couldn't possibly be enough to reach anywhere further than ten meters.

"That's no good. If you don't learn how to fly very soon, you're going to have problems moving around Gensokyo." Momiji said, pinching the base of her nose.

"Can you use any magic even slightly resembling flight?" she asked.

"I think I can." Makoto said. She started casting an Ars and in a few seconds she slowly raised into the air.

"Not bad. And you, Jin?" the wolf tengu asked. I demonstrated the 'Ice Car', as the squirrel chose to call my technique. "If you focus not on attacking, but on the flight part, you're going to make it." Momiji commented on the display. _Easy for you to say..._

We tried to improve our flight capabilities as we slowly ascended the mountain. An hour later, as we were nearing the mountaintop, I asked Momiji about the spell card that appeared in my pocket after the fight with Hina.

"If you time out or break a spell card without taking a hit or countering with your own, you capture it. I'm not sure how time out one functions in team fights, but the one who breaks the card captures it." she said. "You can check it out it if you want to."

I tried taking the card in my hand and check it for magic. Indeed, it was imbued with a specific pattern of paralyzing fireballs. The duration of the spell card was specified within as well. Ironic how a user of mainly ice-based techniques like me received a flame spell card... _I wonder if it's possible to reverse-engineer it with Ars Magus..._

"Hiya there, Momiji."

We turned around and saw Aya. She was standing right behind us with her arms crossed and an unamused face.

"Shameimaru." the wolf tengu said, brandishing her sword. "What are you doing here?"

"The higher-ups want to know why you abandoned your post." Aya said, ignoring me and Makoto. _So, this must be her 'business mode'._

"Those two do not possess any immediate threat, but we still needed to keep an eye on them."

"Okay. Nothing personal, but you should have just send somebody from the squad instead."

"Nothing personal my ass." Momiji muttered quietly, then said aloud "Did you think what would happen if they were attacked just because they're human? Not everybody is still as willing to help random people as the two of us are and you damn know that." Momiji said, baring her teeth a little.

"Ayayaya. Chill out, puppy, I'm just repeating what the command told me. If you want to fight, sure thing, but I'm on a tight schedule." Aya said, shrugging.

"Then tell them this: I cannot fully trust my team with safety of two Outsiders who evidently do not possess any ill will, especially after the uprising. Besides, they're trained enough to adequately respond to threats in my absence."

"I hear you. You might get reassigned for it, though. Um, just sayin', you know." the crow tengu said and flew away fast when she noticed Momiji readying for a strike.

"Tch... the nerve of her..." Momiji sighed, still a little tense. "Whatever. Let's just hurry up before she writes another article about my supposed rabies."

 _Too much information._

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/05 5th Hierarchical City [Ibukido], Sector 7 field laboratory -**

"So that's the famed Embryo..."

Yukari, Rachel and Noel arrived at the city ruins very fast, courtesy of the gap youkai. She was now marveling at both the Amaterasu Unit and the slowly pulsating amalgam of seithr and souls. Meanwhile, the two remaining women discussed the next excursion into the Embryo.

"If you find Ragna to be still alive, do not try to rush things. We will need Tsubaki to deliver the coup de grace."

"Yeah, but... she'll get so angry when she finds out Jin's missing..."

"Do not worry, Noel. We still need to prepare a fast way of finding Ragna. Should there be no option, we will pull him out." Rachel finished, then turned to Yukari. "So, any preliminary findings?"

"The border between all the seithr and fresh air is well-defined, but you should know that already. Inside, it seems to be incredibly chaotic. It's hard to differentiate between seithr and souls at times." Yukari said seriously. "There do seem to be a few strong souls in there, but I can't read them. You'd have to ask another person from Gensokyo, and even then she might not be able to find it. There's just too many souls at once there."

"I understand." Rachel said. Everything was hanging on finding Ragna as soon as possible. "Can you at least read the amount of damage on them?" she asked, remembering one of the [Azure Grimoire]'s drawbacks.

"Let's see..." Yukari said and once again focused on the Embryo. It felt like the most violent part of a magical hurricane, souls and seithr flying without any control. She noticed a very peculiar soul - its boundary of self and instinct was heavily damaged, as if from hundreds of millions of years of existence. But no human should be able to live this long, even with use of the Hourai Elixir, she thought. No human was meant to live even close to this long without becoming a youkai... or without it being reincarnated over and over, but even then... "How much this Ragna's soul would be damaged?" she asked.

"...Very much." Rachel said after a moment of silence. "Have you found him?"

"I believe so." Yukari said, biting her lip a little. "He hasn't crossed the boundary of life and death yet, from what I can see." She thought what Yuyuko would say about the state of Ragna's soul, if it indeed was his.

"Then we must hurry." Rachel said, turning to Noel. "Call Tsubaki. Tell her Ragna's still alive."

"On it." the blond girl said and went to the side to inform her best friend.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/15 Gensokyo, Human Village -**

Despite the abundance of magical energy making it possible for Hazama to keep his Grimoire active indefinitely, he preferred to avoid unwanted attention from this land's denizens as long as possible. Making his way towards the marketplace, he noticed one of those magical creatures trying to disguise herself as a human. It seemed that whatever humans in this world do not readily accept anybody who wasn't one of them. Moreover, each and every one of those creatures was strong enough to bear a Drive of some sort if they ever exited this enclosed space.

Reisen, who was as always selling simple medicine from Eientei, noticed the green-haired man dressed in black clothes and wearing a fedora. Something wasn't right with the way he looked at her. Did he, an Outsider, recognize her so easily? She didn't make any suspicious move, although she still observed the man. His mannerisms seemed polite, but she could easily see it was only a facade. Was he actually sent to Gensokyo from the Outside World? She had to report this to her shishō when she came back.

Hazama left the marketplace as quickly as he entered. He noticed a huge commotion near the newspaper stand, so he weaseled one from the stand owner and started reading. It was the yesterday's issue, but one of the articles drew his attention. What he read instantly brought a frown to his face. This was _not_ a part of the plan, he thought.

 ** _'Outsiders Bring Shocking Revelations!'_**  
 _-Is this a sign of contact?-_

 _On the 11th of Satsuki, a duo of Outsiders appeared in Gensokyo._  
 _It wouldn't be too strange for such people to arrive, however,_  
 _those people, Kisaragi Jin-san (human) and Nanaya Makoto-san_  
 _('beastkin') claimed that not only Gensokyo had been indirectly_  
 _discovered, it has also been 'non-existent' for almost two hundred  
years!_

 _'We believe that a piece of scientific equipment somehow interfered_  
 _with Gensokyo's nature and the barrier reacted in an unexpected manner,_  
 _hiding away the entirety of Gensokyo from existence. As the_  
 _aforementioned equipment has only recently been deactivated the_  
 _minuscule spatial distortions weren't detected until now. In layman's_  
 _terms, we couldn't see something was off in Japan because there_  
 _wasn't anything to be off at the time.' said Nanaya-san._

 _Supposedly, the Outside World went through a very turbulent phase over_  
 _the last hundred years. In 2100 an immensely powerful youkai-like_  
 _monster dubbed the 'Black Beast' appeared within Japan and went to rampage_  
 _across the Outside, halving the human population and covering the Earth_  
 _in a chaotic magical substance called seithr._

 _A small group of people managed to develop magical weapons, collectively_  
 _called 'Nox Nyctores' to destroy the Beast, and a spell system_  
 _allowing people without required willpower to use magic called Ars_  
 _Magus. A group named Novus Orbis Librarium was created to regulate_  
 _access to grimoires containing various Ars, but in 2191 a group_  
 _of city-states wanted to become independent, resulting in_  
 _a civil war._

 _'It was a very bloody conflict. Man was pitted against man, using_  
 _the very same weapons developed for the purpose of defeating_  
 _a common foe. Although there were many more skilled than I, the high_  
 _command saw fit to have me lead the decisive strike against the Ikaruga_  
 _leadership. The assault ended in two days when I killed their_ _general,  
Lord Tenjō. The public later hailed me as the Hero of Ikaruga.',_  
 _Kisaragi-san explained._

 _Being in a presence of a war hero is a very exciting feeling._  
 _Kisaragi-san, however, didn't seem to be very happy about being_  
 _called as such. He said that those are just empty words that don't_  
 _really mean anything. A humble war hero, you don't usually get any_  
 _these days! But does the appearance of the mysterious duo mean_  
 _a soon-to-come influx of Outsiders? This is a question that can_  
 _get an answer in just a few weeks._

 _(Shameimaru Aya)_

"Of all places, why did those two have to end up _here_?"

* * *

 **\- Youkai Mountain -**

"Achoo!"

"Don't tell me you've caught cold." I said to Makoto.

"It's nothing, really. Somebody must be talking about us now." she said.

"Not surprising after that interview we gave." I shrugged and picked up the pace, since we were almost at the summit. I looked away for a moment, admiring the view of almost whole Gensokyo. Memorizing the general location of various landmarks, I noticed a large hole on the mountainside. I asked Momiji about it.

"That's the entrance to the Underground Geyser Center. It connects to the Nuclear Furnace down in Former Hell." she explained. _Wait..._ Former _Hell?... That's it. I'm officially forgoing any common sense in relation to Gensokyo._

"Nuclear Furnace? As in 'nuclear fusion reactor'?" Makoto asked.

"Something like that. You wouldn't want to fall in, though. It's a very long way down and the hell raven isn't friendly towards intruders, even less than most tengu."

"But wait, isn't Gensokyo on a technological level of feudal Japan?" Makoto asked.

"Don't ask me. It's all a one huge Moriya Shrine conspiracy for what we know." she said, shrugging. "Anyway, if you look southeast, above the clouds, you'll see the gates of the Netherworld. Normally they'd be impenetrable, but since the winter incident you can actually pass them."

We thanked the white wolf tengu and, utilizing our freshly learned flight skills, went for the gates.

* * *

Netherworld was a strangely tranquil place: time didn't seem to flow there at all, various ghosts, phantoms and the like floated around lazily and without care for the two of us, living intruders in the land of the dead. Even the wind blew gently and without a single change.

"Wow... I wonder if that's how the ancient Greeks imagined Hades." Makoto said.

"At least there are no opponents here." I said.

"Don't say that, Jin. They always show up right after."

"Tch. Whatever." I scoffed. Using a long-range scrying Ars, we determined the way towards Hakugyokurou and started walking in the indicated direction. Soon after, fairies started to swarm us, which made Makoto turn at me with that annoying 'I told you so' look. _You'll regret this, you flying vermin._

When the little nuisances were dealt with, we chose to fly the rest of the way - it would both be faster and allow us to train as well. The fairies still tried to ambush us, but as we weren't restricted to the ground this time, we made short work of them. Our avoiding capabilities would still need much training, though. When the waves of fairies finally stopped, we could already see an old-styled shrine surrounded by cherry blossoms. _This must be Hakugyokurou..._ We sped up and flew right towards it, landing in front of the shrine stairs in a minute.

"Hope we get some answers here." Makoto said. "Let's rest a moment, okay?"

"...But not too long." I said. We took out a few fillets of smoked fish and were about to eat, but a girl from the shrine started going towards us. She wasn't a miko, though; she wore a dark green dress with white sleeves and collar and a black bowtie. She also had a black ribbon tied in her silver hair and carried a pair of matching swords - a long katana on her back and a wakizashi on her left waist. A small phantom followed her.

"Who might you two be?" she asked. "Outsiders rarely appear in the Netherworld."

"We learned how to fly." Makoto said, waving her hand. "I'm Makoto Nanaya, and this is Jin Kisaragi. Do you know if we can find Yakumo Yukari here?"

"She visits here every so often, but last time she said that she has some business in the Outside World and might not visit for a week or so. Anyway, my name is Konpaku Youmu." the girl said, bowing slightly.

"May we enter?" I asked.

"Please wait here for a moment." the girl responded and flew up the stairs, presumably inside the shrine.

"Why does this look like we're on a wild goose chase?" Makoto asked, turning her head to me.

"Don't ask me. This place really doesn't follow any logic." I said, shrugging. "That gap youkai could appear right now in front of us for what I know."

"Stop jinxing us, Jin." Makoto said as she bit her piece of smoked fish. "The less surprises we get, the better."

I couldn't agree more.

* * *

 **\- Near the Forest of Magic -**

Hazama was staring at an old-looking shop just outside the forest. "Kourindou..." he said to himself. Apparently it was a kind of a curiosity - slash - pawn shop, selling whatever items were brought to this 'Gensokyo'. He was kind of curious what exactly could the owner possess, but the importance of such a place was currently nil. Turning around, Hazama noticed a trio of fairies looking at him curiously.

"E-to... Are you in need of something?" he asked, smiling in his usual, slightly sheepish way.

"Are you an Outsider, mister?" the fairy dressed in white asked.

"If by Outsider you mean anybody not from Gensokyo, then yes." Hazama said. The trio seemed pretty weak, but it was not a good idea to make enemies at the very beginning of his stay in this magical wonderland.

"See? I told you I've seen Outsiders, Luna!" another one of them, a blond dressed in white and red, shouted as she grabbed the first one by the collar.

"Do you mean those two?" Hazama said, showing them the Bunbunmaru article.

"Yes, those two!" the red-white fairy said, giving the newspaper cutout to the first one. "Do you know what does this say, Luna?"

"Apparently this guy with the sword is a war hero..."

The three fairies leaned towards the newspaper, which gave Hazama some time to think through his situation. He could ditch the fairies, but the only place he could go to fast enough before they caught up to him was the shop, which was too obvious. He chose to just go with the flow and manipulate them.

"You're lucky that you flew away, Sunny. This guy looks like he would beat us in moments." the third fairy, dressed in blue, said.

"Alone, maybe, but not the three of us combined!" Sunny said, raising her fist high in the air. "Anyway, what's your name, mister?" she asked.

"You can call me Hazama." he said, making his trademark bow.

"Great! I'm Sunny Milk," the red-white fairy said, "this is Luna Child," she continued, pointing to the white fairy, "and this is Star Sapphire." she finished, gesturing towards the blue dressed fairy. "We're the Three Fairies of Light! Nice to meet you!"

"The pleasure is all mine, young ladies." Hazama said, smiling. If they were as gullible as they looked, then this could be a start, at least until he found someone of better caliber and a similar appreciation for chaos...

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM THE GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Youmu Konpaku  
Gender: Female  
Race: Half-human half-phantom  
Occupation: Gardener at Hakugyokurou, swordsmanship instructor  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Unknown (possibly Hakugyokurou)  
Blood type: Unknown  
Eyes: Dark green  
Hair: Silver  
Weapon: Danmaku, Roukanken (katana), Hakurouken (wakizashi)

Special Ability / Drive: Nitōryū

Capable of skillfully wielding two swords in battle. Abilities supplied by her weapons include destroying spirits (Roukanken) and dispelling confusion (Hakurouken).

Name: Sunny Milk  
Gender: Female  
Race: Fairy  
Danger Level: Low  
Aggression Level: Low  
Occupation: None (Prankster)  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Gensokyo  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Blue  
Hair: Red  
Weapon: Danmaku

Special Ability: Refraction of light

Capable of manipulating light (especially sunlight) in a manner that can, amongst other things, alter appearance of her surroundings or render her invisible. This ability extends to danmaku composed of light.

Name: Luna Child  
Gender: Female  
Race: Fairy  
Danger Level: Very Low  
Aggression Level: Low  
Occupation: None (Prankster)  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Gensokyo  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Red  
Hair: Blond  
Weapon: Danmaku

Special Ability: Muting sound

Capable of muting any sound in her surroundings.

Name: Star Sapphire  
Gender: Female  
Race: Fairy  
Danger Level: Very Low  
Aggression Level: Low  
Occupation: None (Prankster)  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Gensokyo  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Yellow  
Hair: Brown  
Weapon: Danmaku

Special Ability: Detection of movement

Capable of remotely detecting moving entities and, to an extent, living entities.


	9. Chapter 9

Wow, these chapters are getting progressively longer. Anyway, Hazama is going to start an incident along with the fairies! Not the usual 'things happen to whole Gensokyo' thing, but still something that a certain part of Internet would call true Touhou fan work :) And Tsubaki finally learns where Jin and Makoto disappeared to.

As always, please R&R!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue**

* * *

 **\- 129/05/15 Netherworld, Hakugyokurou -**

Youmu didn't let us wait outside for too long. After half an hour, she came back and invited us to the shrine grounds. The first thing we saw was the astounding amount of cherry blossoms growing to the sides of both the stairs and the approach, creating a breathtaking view. The young gardener took pride of her work, telling us that sometimes she even had to use her swords to trim the trees. _Not a very productive way..._ We also saw a massive, seemingly dead cherry blossom behind the shrine itself, but when we asked about it, Youmu only said that it's not a thing Outsiders should know about. We entered the shrine and sat by the table inside, while the young gardener went to get the mistress of Hakugyokurou.

So, what do you think of this place, Jin?" Makoto asked me when the gardener left.

"...Fitting for an afterlife." I said, taking a swig of water.

"Nothing more? Bummer." she said, cupping her face with her hands. "The cherry blossoms outside are just gorgeous... That's it. When me and my family finally get that house in Wadatsumi, I'm planting a cherry blossom there."

"...Whatever." I sighed. _I just hope this Yuyuko woman won't try our patience..._

Thankfully, we didn't have to wait too long this time as well - after just five minutes, Youmu came back with her mistress. Yuyuko Saigyouji looked much different than we imagined her - she was a fairly tall woman with shoulder-length wavy pink hair. She wore a light blue kimono with white trim and designs as well as a matching mob cap with a veil on the back side and a hitaikakushi with a red 'ghost wisp' insignia on the front.

"You must be those Outsiders Yukari mentioned. Please, make yourself at home." she greeted us.

"Thank you." I started. _Making oneself at home in afterlife...No logic here either._ "I believe you know already why are we here."

"You want to go back to your own world. Everybody would if they were forcibly pulled out of their normal life." she said, sipping the tea that Youmu brought.

"Exactly. We've heard that you're an acquaintance of Yukari's, so if you could convince her to let us out..." Makoto said.

"Hmm... Maybe I could, maybe I couldn't..." Yuyuko teased, putting her index finger to her lips. "It's not easy to figure out what Yukari's thinking, and even harder to convince her of something."

"Surely she would listen to a long-time friend." I said. The ghost princess smiled in response and took another sip of her tea.

"And why would I want to pester her?" she asked. "There's no hurry, you can simply enjoy your visit to Gensokyo."

"Tell me, do any of Netherworld's residents come from the Outside World?" I asked. Makoto looked at me for a moment, but seemed to figure out what I was going to say pretty fast and didn't object. Yuyuko seemed lost in thought for a moment.

"The Yama direct some of them here, but over the last hundred or so years very few have arrived, and even less were reincarnated." _So reincarnation is a thing here..._

"And why do you think it is so?" I continued.

"Well... either the number of humans in the Outside has been drastically lessened, or somebody is actively stealing souls. Possibly both." Yuyuko said. Me and Makoto looked at each other, while the ghost princess smiled awkwardly. "Am I right?"

"You've hit the nail right on the head, Yuyuko-san." Makoto sighed after a moment of silence. "The human population has been halved, their souls possibly devoured, and now even more people are being used as war resources, not as soldiers, but as fuel. We need to go back so we can stop it."

"So Yukari wasn't just messing around..." Yuyuko sighed. "How much time do you have?"

"Frankly, we don't know. The Embryo can go unstable at any moment." I said. "We need to get back as fast as possible."

"How unfortunate. Youmu, go to Mayohiga and see if you can find Chen. If you do, inform her that I need to talk to Yukari as fast as possible."

"Right away." the gardener said and rushed out of the shrine. _Finally, somebody remotely normal in this place..._

"Now that the formalities are out of the way, would you want to stay for dinner?" Yuyuko said.

"As long as we're not the ones served, then sure." Makoto said, to which Yuyuko lightly chuckled.

"Don't worry. Only wild youkai eat people after the Spell Card Rules were established."

"Good to know..." I said, remembering the night encounter with Rumia.

* * *

 **\- Hakurei Shrine -**

As she always did when she had free time, Reimu was sitting on the steps of her shrine, right next to the donation box, and drinking her evening tea. Inspecting the Great Barrier didn't give any information about the unnatural breach Ran told her about this morning, so all she could do now was to prepare for a new incident. This made her a little grumpy - she'd rather spend time in a peaceful and simple way, like she was doing now

This being Gensokyo, somebody had to interrupt her.

"Reimuuu! I'm baaack!"

"Oh for love of..." the miko stood up, looking around for any sign of a high-velocity impact. Luckily, this time the eternal freeloader chose to mundanely run towards the shrine instead of falling from stratosphere levels. The girl jumped right at Reimu and pinned her to the ground with an aggressive hug.

"It's always good to be back home!" she said cheerfully.

"It would be better if you get off me." the red-white miko deadpanned. "How long you've been partying this time?" she continued when she could stand again.

"Let's see... since the strong liquors ran out two days ago... almost a fortnight!" the girl said, almost hitting Reimu with her large horns as she shook

her head. "Gotta extend it to three weeks next time!"

"Yeah, whatever..." the miko said, leading the perpetually drunk oni into the shrine's haiden.

"Oi, Reimu, why are you so grumpy today?" the small girl asked when the two sat by the table.

"The Barrier has been breached, pretty violently. I'm sure there will be an incident in a week or two."

"An Outsider causing an incident? This is going to be fun!"

"No, it's not going to be fun, Suika. Whatever that was, it was enough to harm the Barrier itself." Reimu said, laying her head on the table. "...Could you  
pass the gourd, please?"

"One Ibuki Gourd, coming right up." Suika said with a grin.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/16 Gensokyo, Scarlet Devil Mansion -**

Hazama slowly started to regret teaming up with the three fairies. While they certainly aimed for the top with their incident plans, the...execution left much to desire. For instance, the scheme to unite all fairies by pranking the one widely considered (that is, by herself) to be the strongest one wasn't a shining example of logic, but he still enjoyed the tale. Their newest idea was to detonate the Scarlet Devil Mansion's clock tower. While a commendable and very fun idea, Hazama did enough research to know this was out of the fairies' league. He expected them to egg him on to join in the mayhem, but not this much. In the end, they formulated a pretty neat plan that actually made use of their capabilities.

Too bad that it left him as the diversion, but it wasn't his first time being one. Should shit hit the fan, he'd tear his way out.

Hazama looked at the sleeping gatekeeper. His Grimoire told him that she was a powerful youkai, capable of easily destroying him in one punch. Nevertheless, her mental faculties seemed to not be of the highest standard. With the analysis out of the way, he moved towards the gatekeeper and gently poked her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me..." he said, but the red-haired woman instantly woke up, catching his arm.

"Rule number 1. You do not. Interrupt. The nap." she said coldly, slightly scaring Hazama.

"O-okay. I didn't m-mean to offend, haha." he said, smiling sheepishly. "Neither did I want to enter without permission, though." he quickly added. The gatekeeper still glared at him, but after a long and awkward moment let go of his arm.

"Can't blame you for making me do my job, though." she said. "Name and purpose, for the formalities?"

"Hazama. I've heard that one of your residents is an expert magician, so I wondered if I could meet her." he said. It wasn't completely a lie - after all,  
every opportunity to hone his skill in usage of actual magic was welcome.

"Patchouli-sama doesn't accept many visitors, but if magic is involved..." the gatekeeper mused, and then turned to one of the fairies working in the garden. "Could you go tell Koakuma that a guest is here to meet Patchouli-sama?"

"Right away, miss!" the fairy said, leaving her work and running to the mansion.

"Anyway, my name's Hong Meiling." the gatekeeper introduced herself after a moment, still looking questioningly at Hazama. He noticed the three fairies stealthily moving over the mansion's walls into the gardens, a fair distance away as to not alert the Chinese redhead. "You're not from Gensokyo, are you?"

"No, I'm not. I went for a trip to Japan and somehow crossed over to this world." he said, smiling all the time. "I didn't expect such a beautiful yet deadly place, to be exact."

"You bumped into wild youkai?" Meiling asked.

"Thankfully no, but the gossips are enough proof."

"I wouldn't believe those gossips so much. True, we youkai might be a bloodthirsty bunch as a whole, but it's not like we see humans just as food."  
the gatekeeper said, allowing herself to lean on the wall a bit. "The miko helped a lot. Back when there were no Spell Cards around, no human could feel safe outside the Village. And the battles between youkai or youkai and particularly strong humans could last for days, sometimes destroying the battlefield."

"I can see this happening." Hazama sighed, dropping his smile. "Seems even this world isn't safe from weapons of mass destruction."

"What do you mean?" Meiling asked curiously.

"Well, the outside technology progressed very far, to the point that a single hapless experiment running amok was capable of eradicating half the humanity."

"Wait, are you talking about the thing from Bunbunmaru?"

"Precisely." Hazama said. "And only by using the Beast's own power the humanity could defeat it."

"Sounds like Yuuka would have a field day with that monster."

"Excuse me, who?" he asked, a little unsettled. No man or beastkin was capable of fighting with the Beast on equal grounds even when using Nox-class weapons, so the very notion of a youkai strong enough not only to defeat the Black Beast on her own and unarmed to boot, but to actually _have fun_ while doing it seemed preposterous.

"Kazami Yuuka. Trust me, you wouldn't want to meet her." Meiling said, and was about to continue, but noticed Patchouli's familiar, Koakuma, walking towards them.

"Mr. Hazama, yes?" the red-haired devil girl asked. "Master has agreed to meet with you. Please follow me."

"Of course." Hazama said, entering the gardens. Funny how a devil girl, a succubus he thought, was wearing a proper librarian suit, but it wasn't like he was one to argue. After all, he could describe himself as a handsome devil in very stylish human clothes.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/06 4th Hierarchical City [Naobi], NOL Branch -**

"What were you thinking, sending them off in a situation like this?!"

Kokonoe once wondered how the ancient Greeks imagined the opening of Pandora's box. Now she could witness one of the possible results - nothing could compare in intensity to Tsubaki's wrath if Jin or one of her friends was in danger, which was the case today.

"Calm down, Yayoi. First of all, we needed Makoto's prowess in field analysis for this mission. Moreover, she needed an escort." Kokonoe explained, trying to keep her own voice level. "Tager was out at the moment since he had to help out with the reactor in Ōkoto. Noel had to search for Ragna in Ibukido. Shishigami is now a personal bodyguard for the Imperator. Jubei still hasn't got back on his legs after Doomsday. Your Immortal Breaker is way too important. Jin was the only one even remotely available for this job and possessing a Nox. So don't give me this 'what were you thinking' shit, because you know well that if it was possible at that moment, we'd have sent somebody else."

"What about that mercenary then? Was she too occupied at that time?" Tsubaki pressed.

"We already had to pull enough strings to make her go on the rescue mission. Did you think how much we'd have to do for her to agree to be an escort to a beastkin?"

Tsubaki wanted to continue, but she was out of arguments for this line of pursuit. She changed her approach, though. "Very well. What happened, happened. In that case, we need to extract them as soon as possible." she said.

"We've already got that covered. They'll be back in no more than a week."

"A week?!" Tsubaki sharply turned her head in Kokonoe's direction. "From what I heard, those... monsters can easily kill a grown man. If they meet any of them, Jin and Makoto won't stand a chance. We need to go _now_!"

"Calm down, dammit!" Kokonoe shouted, banging her fist on the table. "We can't risk making any hasty moves unless we want Izanami to catch on, so stop your bitching and wait! They'll be brought back soon, and even should anything happen, they're not kids. They can defend themselves."

"If we wait for even a moment, there might not even be anybody to bring back." Tsubaki said and stormed off.

Kokonoe sighed in exasperation and slumped in her chair. She could now understand Kagura's tendency to drink on the job. In a way, Tsubaki was right - Yukari's display of power was only a sample of how creative Gensokyo's residents could get with their abilities. However, should Izanami get the info about any third party being in play, things could quickly get very ugly, especially since she had Ragna under complete control. Earth wouldn't be able to handle another Black Beast, so acting recklessly was something they couldn't afford, and Tsubaki was being exactly that right now.  
A telephone rang out, which the beastkin scientist hastily answered.

"What is it?" she spat out.

"I have a question for you, Kokonoe-hakase." the voice said.

"Aren't you Yukari's shikigami?"

"Indeed. Do you know of any technology that can interfere with spatial phenomena?" Ran asked.

"Just say what happened, I'm not in the best mood right now."

"There was a forceful breach in the Great Barrier yesterday. Do you know anybody who could do that?"

Kokonoe seriously needed a drink now. "I'll need to take a good look at this myself. And speaking of breaches, Jin's girlfriend got pissed and is hellbent on taking him back. Tell Yukari she can expect another guest."

"Of course." Ran said. "Good day to you then."

"Yeah, yeah." Kokonoe said, ending the connection and looking at her watch. It was about time she did another checkup on Lambda, so she informed her new assistant to direct any visitors to the medical center and went there herself.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/16 Gensokyo, Scarlet Devil Mansion -  
**

The three fairies proceeded with the plan flawlessly. Hazama told them to move as a group: Sunny would make them invisible, Luna would cancel out any noises they would emit (and only those), while Star would detect any movement and plan their route accordingly. This way, they avoided most of the fairy maids, and luckily for them, the head maid seemed to be absent. Soon, they reached the rooftop and went directly to the clock tower.

"Okay, so what now?" Star whispered.

"Now, we blast this thing to pieces! All of Gensokyo will know the Three Fairies of Light!" Sunny said enthusiastically.

"But how are we going to do this?" Luna asked. "Do you have anything flammable, Sunny?"

"Don't worry. I'm sure we can find some conveniently placed gunpowder in there." the redhead said. "And if we don't, there must be a barrel or two somewhere in the mansion."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Luna?" Star asked her blond friend.

"That this is going to be messy? Of course."

In the other part of the mansion, Koakuma arrived at the library wit the sudden guest. Hazama looked around in awe. Even if the place wasn't placed under a space-expanding spell, the amount of books inside would be impressive. This, however, was positively the largest repository of grimoires and assorted books in existence, much larger than the repository at Ōkoto.

"Simply beautiful... A shame it isn't open to the public." he said.

"That's because not everybody can appreciate it." a sickly voice said from behind a stack of books.

"You must be Patchouli Knowledge, right?" Hazama said as he went to meet the library's de facto owner. The girl had long, ankle-length purple hair decorated with numerous small ribbons. She wore a pink, pajama-like dress and a matching night cap with a gold crescent moon decorating it.

"I am. You're here to discuss Outside World magic?" she said in a quiet, monotonous voice.

"In a sense. I'm more interested in a trade of information." he continued, sitting beside the magician. " I'll supply you with information about the Outside magic, technology and assorted things. In exchange, I simply want access to this library's records. Do we have a deal?"

"Depends on your information." Patchouli said.

"I expected no less." Hazama chuckled. "Maybe you've read the latest Bunbunmaru?"

"I don't read papers of such low standards."

"A pity. You can find a real gem even amongst the trash every once in a while." he said, producing the cut-out of the article and giving it to the magician, who immediately started reading.

"Curious. It wouldn't be the first time humanity almost eradicated itself." she said. "But to put whole Gensokyo into temporal stasis without disrupting  
the Great Barrier..."

"Indeed. And it stayed the way it was for almost two hundred years. You might want to visit Kourindou in a few weeks." Hazama said.

"I'll pass." Patchouli said, giving the article back to the former captain. "I suppose you are capable of casting spells?"

"I am, but not as well as I would want to be." Hazama admitted. "However, I know a variety of Ars for practically any purpose. Identification, healing, warding, flight..."

"...Battling?" Patchouli asked.

"Those too, but fighting isn't my specialty." he said.

"I'll be the judge of that."

"W-wait, you're n-not serious, right?" Hazama stuttered with practiced ease. True, he didn't really want to fight here, but if somebody only wanted to 'test' him, maybe he loosen up for just a moment...

"Of course I am. Or is it you who isn't being serious with your request?" Patchouli asked, getting bored with the conversation.

"Well, if you put it that way..." he said, rising from his chair. "Spell Card or not?"

"No Cards for now." the magician responded and the two went to the small clearing inside the library. "First blood should be enough."

"Doesn't that put me, a human, at a disadvantage?" Hazama objected.

"I'm not a picture of health, as you can see. It will be adequate." Patchouli said, floating a few meters away from the green-haired man.

"If you insist..." he said, bowing before the duel.

 **BGM: Voile, the Magic Library**

Patchouli rose up into the air, conjuring numerous rotating lasers and a few glyphs shooting danmaku in a spread out fashion. Hazama immediately started analyzing the bullet paths, noticing that a few of the glyphs also started shooting bullets directly at him. Since he wasn't sure if he could use the snake spirits after crossing to Gensokyo, and showing Ouroboros yet wasn't an option, he chose to improvise. Muttering the incantation for the flight Ars, Hazama rose up to Patchouli's level, steering himself to avoid danmaku and lasers as he did. When the incantation was complete, he started to facilitate usage of long-range paralyzing Ars using his [Azure Grimoire] set to a standard level instead of being on standby. For his opening attack, Hazama decided on a fast barrage of fireballs, but Patchouli reflexively created a wall of water to block them.

"A bit of advice: elemental magic won't help you." she said.

"As expected of the One-Week Wizard." Hazama chuckled. "No elemental magic, you say? Alright then..." he said and used his Grimoire to fire bursts of  
snake-shaped bullets.

"Interesting... Have you visited Moriya Shrine?" the magician asked, deflecting the snakes with a spread shot of fireballs and dodging the rest.

"No, not yet. Why do you ask?" he responded, avoiding the stray fireballs and changing the form of his bullets to small knives for better piercing ability.

"One of their gods frequently uses snake curse gods." Patchouli said, maneuvering between the numerous knives and preparing the incantation for a larger spell. "Why the snakes then?"

"They are my favorite animals. Despite their usually small size and lack of limbs they can nevertheless achieve fits too demanding for any other species."

"Such as eating prey that is alive and much larger than them?"

"It wasn't what I had in mind, but yes, this too. They can, for example, move through the tiniest holes. Snakes even serve as pest disposal in more exotic countries." Hazama said as Patchouli prepared a large sun-shaped danmaku. Suddenly, she started coughing and dropped the spell.

"What's the matter?" Hazama asked. He almost thought he could drop the act for a moment, but as always fate had something else in store for him. It was infuriating, but he could do nothing short of playing along.

"Asthma." the magician said between coughs. "Back on the topic, I prefer cats in terms of pest control."

"They're nice, but no. I have an allergy to cat fur." he said. He could still remember that embarrassing moment from one of the timelines.

"A legitimate clash of opinions, then. I wonder who will win in this duel: cats or snakes?"

"There's but only one way to find out." Hazama said and resumed attacking when Patchouli got her asthma back under control.

Meanwhile, the three fairies entered one of the storehouses. A dozen of large barrels filled with gunpowder were standing in the corner of the room. Luckily, there were no employees inside, so the fairies could drop their disguise for a moment.

"See? I told you there would be some!" Sunny said, excited.

"Why would they store it here, though?" Star mused.

"Doesn't matter." Luna said, stuffing her pockets full with as much coffee beans and alcohol as it was physically possible. "How will we move it, though?"

"We'll just roll them all the way to the clock tower, shine a beam of very focused light, and BOOM!" Sunny shouted, gesturing wildly.

"But we can't move more than one of them!" Star said. "What if they find them midway through?"

"Let's make sure they won't, then. We'll roll them to the clock tower one at a time and hide them as we do."

"Nice idea, Luna. Okay, let's do this!" the hyperactive leader of the group said enthusiastically and the fairies started to move the first barrel.

* * *

A few hours later, the duel in the library became somewhat slower - both Hazama and Patchouli were tired by now, the latter especially because of her illnesses - but still required large amounts of focus from both combatants.

"Gotcha!" Hazama shouted when she landed on the ground for a moment to catch her breath after a truly chaotic, yet also somewhat elegant display of danmaku and by the green-haired man. He quickly fired off a binding Ars with his Grimoire and threw a single knife, enough to draw blood from Patchouli's left index finger.

"Immobilizing an enemy would be considered cheating in a Spell Card battle, but this was a simple magic duel. Congratulations, you outwitted me." the magician said, accepting defeat with grace.

"Thank you. You're no slouch either, Miss Knowledge." he said, landing on the ground. "It's been far too long I've battled somebody of your caliber."

"So you did fight with strong foes before?" she asked, looking into his perpetually closed eyes.

"I said that fighting isn't my specialty, not that I'm a lousy fighter." he shrugged.

"So you have." Patchouli said to herself, and then noticed her lifelong friend has been watching the hours-long battle. "How long you've been here, Remi?"

"From the moment you almost hit him with the quicksilver shower." the girl replied.

"I'm sorry, you are?" Hazama asked after he dusted off his coat and fedora. The girl had shoulder-length light blue hair and a pair of large bat wings. She wore a light pink dress with a small red ribbon on each sleeve and a large one behind her waist, as well as a matching mob cap. A caduceus pendant was hanging from her neck, a little detail that he found very charming in its own way. He hoped she was different from that shitty vampire.

"My, my, you enter a building without knowing the name of its owner?" she said, lifting her hand towards her lips in a ladylike manner. "I'm Remilia Scarlet, the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Surely you've heard of me?"

"Well, that's a surprise..." Hazama said, smiling sheepishly. "I didn't expect you to look so youthful." Another brat, then. Looks like you can't have everything, he thought.

"You're not the first and certainly not the last." she said, outwardly pleased with the comment yet noticing the slight insult behind it. "So, the Barrier  
still absorbs Outsiders?" she asked as Patchouli lead all three towards the table where she was reading before the duel.

"More than that." the magician said. "Gensokyo was frozen in time for almost two hundred years when humans in the Outside used an unspecified device."

"Curious." Remilia said, sitting by the table. She then turned to Hazama. "And you three have entered by mistake, am I right?"

"Yes, but I've entered independently of those two." he said, giving the vampire his Bunbunmaru cutout. "Since magic was rediscovered somewhere around 2025, a few academies dedicated themselves to studying this art. A small amount of humans is capable of using it, though."

"An academy?" Patchouli asked as Remilia started reading.

"Well, more like a guild, but after the Dark War pure magic users grew even more scarce. Ars Magus is much simpler in use, though less powerful."

Suddenly, a powerful explosion shook the entire mansion. Looks like the fairies did it, Hazama thought.

Outside, the prankster trio were flying away from the Scarlet Devil Mansion as fast as they could. The clock tower was obliterated by the combined blast of a few dozens of large gunpowder barrels.

"We did it! Yes! Finally the whole Gensokyo will acknowledge our cunning!" Sunny shouted happily.

"What about Hazama?" Star asked. The explosion has been a little too much for her nerves, so she still shook like a leaf.

"Don't worry. He said he'll find a way out." Luna calmed her friend.

"Okay, last home takes care of the bottles!" Sunny said, speeding up.

"Hey, wait for us!" Luna said as she and Star sped up as well. "I don't want to spill the whiskey!"

"Good point. All right, first the four of us drink like the oni, and then we'll worry about the bottles." the redhead said. "We'll make the first page of  
Bunbunmaru!" she shouted happily.

"I hope the vampire doesn't catch us..." Star whispered.

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM THE GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Yuyuko Saigyouji  
Gender: Female  
Race: Ghost  
Danger Level: Extremely High  
Aggression Level: Very Low  
Date of birth: circa 1000 AD  
Birthplace: Unknown, presumably Japan  
Blood type: N/A  
Eyes: Maroon  
Hair: Pink  
Weapon: Danmaku, her ability

Special Ability: Manipulation of death, Manipulation of departed souls

Capable of inflicting death on any living being, with the exception of those under the effect of a Hourai Elixir. Also capable of governing the souls of the  
dead.

Name: Suika Ibuki  
Gender: Female  
Race: Oni  
Danger Level: Extremely High  
Aggression Level: Low  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Unknown  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Brown  
Hair: Ginger  
Weapon: Danmaku, fists, any impromptu weapons

Special Ability: Manipulation of density

In addition to possessing superhuman levels of physical strength, capable of controlling density of an object or an area. Applications of this power include changing size, transforming into mist form or creating large rocks out of ambient dust.

Name: Hong 'China' Meiling  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai  
Danger Level: Above Average  
Aggression Level: Low  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Possibly China  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Red  
Hair: Red  
Weapon: Danmaku, fists, energy attacks

Special Ability / Drive: Nèijìng (Control of Qi)

Capable of consciously using qi, mainly in martial arts, but can also be utilize it as perception of auras.

Name: Patchouli Knowledge  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai (magician)  
Danger Level: Medium  
Aggression Level: Low  
Date of birth: circa 1900 AD  
Birthplace: Unknown, possibly Europe  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Purple  
Hair: Purple  
Weapon: Danmaku, magic

Special Ability / Drive: One-Week Magic

Capable of using magic aligned with the seven elements of Japanese week.

Name: Remilia Scarlet  
Gender: Female  
Race: Vampire  
Danger Level: Extremely High  
Aggression Level: High  
Date of birth: 1503 AD  
Birthplace: Europe  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Red  
Hair: Light blue  
Weapon: Danmaku, magic, Nox-class weapon 'The Gungnir'

Special Ability: Manipulation of fate

In addition to various abilities assorted with vampires, capable of subtly manipulating fate of entities in her vicinity.


	10. Chapter 10

Wow, the longest chapter so far and the longest fighting scene yet. Unfortunately, the next chapter might be delayed since I'm having my exams right now, though I hope that I'll be able to write them more frequently afterwards. As for this one: Hazama ends up locked in the aftermath of the last chapter and tries to escape the SDM.

Draggon73: Thanks for pointing that out. Guess I'll have to be more careful next time xD

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue**

* * *

 **\- 129/05/16 Netherworld, Hakugyokurou -**

Youmu came back just after the... rather large dinner, informing us that Yukari will not come back to Gensokyo for at least a week, but her shikigami, one Ran Yakumo, is present. I wanted to go right away, but Yuyuko insisted for us to stay in the shrine until her friend came back. Makoto supported the idea and so we stayed.

Time flow seemingly wasn't a part of the Netherworld, existing only by relation to external sources. The atmosphere was strangely peaceful, yet it wasn't menacingly so. The cherry blossoms swayed lightly in the constant breeze, setting free a constant flow of petals. Sand in the zen garden was precisely raked and the rocks seemed to be chosen specifically in a way to induce calmness in the viewers. The only unsettling part of Hakugyokurou was the massive, half-dead tree in the back gardens, reminding us that the shrine was, indeed, a hall of the dead.

Finishing my meditation near the garden, I stood up and turned to the undead behemoth, watching it from afar.

"You still want to know what this cherry blossom was, don't you, Kisaragi-san?" I heard Yuyuko's voice behind.

"Yes... Its presence seems...off." I couldn't quite put my finger on why it was so, though.

"Why would it be so, especially here?"

 _Why indeed... Hakugyokurou is a place for the deceased, so it would be strange if..._ "It's still alive, isn't it?" I asked.

"True, but this isn't the reason yet." the ghost princess said, floating to my left side and laying her hand on my shoulder, which almost made me shudder. "Think about it: why would it be still alive here of all places?"

"Me and Makoto are alive and well." I said.

"Not exactly. By simply being in the Netherworld you are technically dead." Yuyuko said, smiling. _It's not very assuring..._

"In that case...it's not a normal living being." I said. "Maybe a youkai?"

"Precisely so." the woman said, clapping lightly. "It's an ancient cherry blossom turned youkai named Saigyou Ayakashi. It charmed people with its unearthly beauty, making them rest in its shade, and drained their souls."

"A tree developing soul-draining abilities... Quite an unexpected thing." I said. "Though not impossible, even in the Outside. Some groups used souls as material for tempering weapons."

"...So now humans took the war to the plane of afterlife..." Yuyuko said solemnly. "I feared it would come to that."

"The first of such weapons weren't used against man, though. A soul-eating monster appeared in the Outside, too."

"It seemed so from what you told me... Even the Yama told me that many souls were missing from the records."

"And worst of all," I said, frowning, "was that the only weapons that were strong enough to fight the Black Beast, as it was called, had to be created using copious amounts of human souls for their cores."

"What happened to those weapons, then?" Yuyuko asked.

"They were supposed to be decommissioned, but..." I instinctively glanced at Yukianesa, which the pinkette immediately noticed and gave me a knowing look.

"This weapon is youkai in essence, that much I'm sure of. But... if the Outside humans are now capable of creating youkai... "the ghost sighed. "Let's hope Yukarin doesn't take too much time on her leave..."

"It'd be better for her not to." I said. Yuyuko seemingly floated away, since I heard no response. Watching the youkai tree, I started to meditate again.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/06 Unknown -**

The blond man just finished remodeling the seithr decoding equations. The last time he felt this excited was when he managed to decode souls; however, that was years ago. Now the possibility of recreating living entities from seithr was at hand. His son was adamant about finding a way of recovering destroyed souls from the Grimoire and the ones from the Boundary. The second task was admirable, but the man was sure the first wasn't possible - souls could be modified, tempered or, if human, used as very efficient fuel, but not recreated without direct connection to the Master Unit. The boy didn't budge though, so the only thing left was to search for any way to do as he wanted, however improbable the goal was.

The man stood up from his desk and went to the recreation machine to input the new equations. He looked at the mice scurrying away as he entered the dark room. Feeble little things, he thought, imperfect creations of an imperfect world. Just like humanity he sought to elevate, bring about its new golden age, free of limitations or fear of death... and with himself at the top of it. Alas, his march towards perfection, carefully planned across numerous timelines and behind the back of even his most complex creation, was brought to a stop by a single woman, who took away all of his resources when he stopped being useful to her, not caring that he was one of those who brought her back to this reality and allowed her to take the body of that young girl as her own.

As he inputted the equations, he heard somebody else enter the room. It was that doctor whom he had to work with.

"Are you ready for the tests?" she said, bringing a cage with two small badges with visible seithr mutations.

"In a moment." he said, finishing his work with the recreation machine. "I've implemented basic soul reading. However, precise reconstruction with proper soul implanting will be impossible without a human operator to observe scenes from the souls directly."

"Can't you build an AI to moderate it?"

"I can, but it will require months of work, and Izanami won't give us this much time." he said, turning to the woman. "Shall we, then?"

"Just do your work." she sighed, putting the badgers inside the cage by the monolith and going to the machine. She then turned a nearby tape recorder. "Log number 4. Today's tests consist of deconstruction, reading and reconstruction with proper soul injection of subjects previously contaminated with seithr." she said, then turned to the blond man. "Begin the deconstruction process."

"Of course." he said and chanted the deconstruction Ars. The monolith swiftly seithrificated the half-dead animals, which were then bound by the man. "Subjects deconstructed without complications." he said loudly enough for the recorder's microphone to catch his voice. The woman looked at the monitor, which showed the results of analyzing the created gas: two badgers, a large amount of unidentified seithr and two souls, seemingly damaged by the years of seithr lingering in the valley where they had lived. The souls weren't the only addition to the interface; the improved decoding equations also allowed proper DNA recognition, allowing to recreate the two badgers as they should be without seithr mutations and display the sequences beside the models.

"What should we do with the rest of the seithr?" he asked when the woman began checking the souls.

"See if you can lock it away somewhere. Maybe we can extract information from it later." she answered, assigning one of the souls, one with memory of breaking a leg, to the badger with visible signs of damage in its left hind leg's bone structure.

"As you wish." he said, waiting for her sign.

"Beginning the reconstruction process." the woman said, activating the machine. As it started to rebuild the badgers, she turned to the man. "By the way... how is he?"

"If by 'he', you mean the living seithr, then it's still alive and in as good condition as possible. My son made sure of it." the man said.

"Good." she said, sighing with relief. "I hope it will restore him..."

"If anything can, then this has a chance." he said, looking at the muscles growing around the reconstructed skeleton of one of the specimens. "I still have much to learn..." he muttered to himself in a barely audible voice.

...Maybe this world had a chance, after all.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/16 Gensokyo, Scarlet Devil Mansion -**

Hazama didn't really think the fairies will blow up the clock tower, and now he was in hot water - apparently denizens of Gensokyo didn't believe in coincidences. Hence, he ended up bound with a spell way too strong for him and locked in the basement. He heard something about a red-white miko, possibly the Hakurei one he'd heard about, coming to investigate and, if possible, interrogate him. It wasn't in his style to remain out of the loop for long, though. His Grimoire finally managed to reproduce Terumi's snake spirits, which he promptly used to break out of his cell. That was the easy part, but getting out of the basement was a different thing altogether - it was built like a maze, as if it was supposed to contain individuals much more dangerous than him. That, and the omnipresent stench of old blood... It was a vampire's mansion after all, so it wouldn't be surprising if he found some prisoners used like cattle for their vital crimson fluid.

Using one of the oldest tricks in the book, the 'right hand on the wall', Hazama ended up in what looked like a child's room. There were numerous toys laying around, a small bed, seemingly for a five years old child, a drawer with numerous clothes for a girl of such age, a small but intricate desk... However, the odor of blood seemed to originate from this very room, and all the toys were broken or ripped apart. Whoever lived here, they couldn't be good news, he concluded, and turned around to leave, when the Grimoire started picking up a high-energy signature. It was consistent with that of a vampire, but slightly different than Remilia's.

"Screw the subtlety, time to get the hell out." he muttered to himself, scurrying away from the room.

As he ran through the maze-like basement, Hazama noticed that the vampire was actively pursuing him, so he took to making a mental map of the basement to help him escape without being possibly drained of all his blood. He wouldn't die - the life-link with Noel was still holding, otherwise he wouldn't be here in the first place - but it would take days to regenerate, if the 13th Unit was any indication, during which he would be nothing more than those toys he saw back there. And since he couldn't be broken beyond repair... He shuddered at the notion, running even faster. But the vampire pursued him relentlessly. Not long after, Hazama bumped into a dead end. Knowing that the vampire was going to catch up with him in a few seconds, he decided that at least he will not go down easily.

Finally, the girl showed up. She indeed looked like a five-year old with blond hair tied in a small ponytail, wearing a mob cap reminiscent of Remilia, as well as a red vest with a matching red skirt, a pink shirt and red boots. She carried with herself some kind of wand or staff which looked like an oversized, double-ended clock needle. On a first glance, she didn't seem too intimidating, though he didn't want to take any chances.

"Now I've caught you, sir!" she said with a smile.

"Well, it was certainly a good workout." Hazama smiled, easily flowing into the 'mild-mannered informant' guise. "I wonder why such a beautiful little lady lives here, in the basement."

"You've been to my room?" she asked, running right up to him and looking him right in the eyes. "You're not a gentleman you look like. Gentlemen don't go and peek in ladies' rooms." Blunt and childish, he thought.

"I was just wandering around, that's all." he said, smiling sheepishly and raising his hands in defense. He made a step back, but the vampire moved right in front of him again.

"...Why were you in here, though? Did you anger onee-sama?" she silently asked, showing her fangs a little and looking straight into his eyes. "Nobody gets here without ending up on her bad side..."

Hazama now wanted to get out as fast as it was possible - the girl was obviously nuts. He could recognize such people after spending so much time with Terumi, and he admitted he wasn't a shining example of mental health himself.

"I-it was just an unfortunate c-coincidence, that's all." he stuttered, once again trying to back off from the vampire. "And it's not in my nature to s-stand idly when somebody starts wreaking havoc." It technically wasn't a lie - after all, he never did just watch. He usually was the one who messed with the others.

"Hmm... I don't really believe you." she said, smiling delicately, but the current situation made her smile especially unsettling. Her face was way too near to Hazama's for his comfort. And the way she just ignored his white lie... "I'm a little hungry, though... Could you hold your neck still for a bit?" To hell with this, he thought.

"Sorry, but being dinner for a vampire isn't in my plans today." he said, shoving her away and following with a roundhouse kick. The girl landed gracefully on the ground after doing a backflip in the air. The casual way she treated him made Hazama even more pissed.

"So you want to play, then?" she asked. "All right. My name's Flandre Scarlet. Onee-sama probably wouldn't mind if a prisoner went missing..."

"Hazama. Charmed." he said dryly. Why did all the vampires have to be either blood-crazy bitches or ladylike bitches?

 **BGM: U.N. Owen Was Her?**

The vampire decided to keep the battle up close and personal, jumping right up to him and delivering a right hook aimed right at his temple. Hazama barely managed to jump away and cut her with his butterfly knife.

"Silver folding knives? Sakuya would want those..." Flandre remarked, not even caring about the wound. She aimed her hand at him and fired of a volley of fast danmaku, which he blocked with Ouroboros. He then fired it at the girl who nimbly evaded it and shot another barrage of bullets, filling the entire corridor. Hazama chose to use his own imitated danmaku knives to clear the field up a little, but Flandre's bullets were too fast and numerous to give him any room. One of the small bullets hit him, but the Grimoire weakened the paralysis enough to not leave him solely at the vampire's mercy. Flandre didn't notice it and charged right at Hazama, ready to rip his throat apart and drink his fresh blood. However, he once again shot Ouroboros at her, halting the blond's advance and blinked to appear right behind her.

"Boo." he snarked, making a savage combination of slashes and finishing it with a punch, throwing Flandre at the wall. "You're not that shitty vampire I had to deal with, but kicking your ass will feel just as good."

"Do you have something against vampires?" she said, standing up and showering him with bullets again. Hazama tried to avoid them using the levitation Ars and, to his surprise, it was actually possible this time. Of course, he needed to alternate between aerial and ground combat to achieve the best results. When the girl ceased to shoot danmaku for a moment, Hazama shot Ouroboros in her direction as he disengaged the Ars and flew towards her, but got hit with a backhanded slap and sent tumbling to the ground. Flandre landed on the ground and, in contrast to her behavior mere moments ago, gleefully exclaimed "Time to play~" as she flew towards the green-haired man, who quickly stood up and changed his stance.

"See? That's why I hate you." he said, and attacked her with a rising slash empowered by a snake spirit, throwing her up in the air.

"You're all either so oh-I'm-a-goddamn-lady or completely nuts." he continued, slashing the girl as she tumbled in the air, then firing Ouroboros at her a few times. "And all I want to do is to bring you down to earth!" he shouted, firing his chain at Flandre one last time and throwing her to the ground. He then activated a binding Ars with his Grimoire.

"Eternal Coils of the Dragon Serpent!" he shouted, catching the vampire with Ouroboros and bringing her right in front of him. He then made a fast series of slashes with both of his knives, as well as the blades hidden in his heels, and finished with a savage blow using the snake spirits, throwing the battered girl to the ground once again.

"What, no servants to cut in? Hyaahahahahaha!" he mocked her, dropping his act for a moment.

"You don't want to play nice..." Flandre said as she got up, miffed by her prey beating up instead of it being the other way around as it should. "So neither will I." She stretched her arm towards him once again, but didn't fire anything. Whatever it meant, it couldn't be good, Hazama thought, so he swiftly fired Ouroboros at her. This time, he threw himself towards Flandre and as he flew towards her, he made an axe kick boosted by a snake spirit, driving the blonde's head into the floor and breaking her focus.

"Not over... Taboo [Four of a Kind]!" she shouted angrily as she stood up and pulled out a spell card. She immediately summoned two copies of herself behind Hazama and one beside her. In a moment, all four started shooting a large amount of danmaku all around.

"You're shitting me..." Hazama said to himself. The corridor was completely choked with paralyzing bullets, and he couldn't block them from two sides. Attacking was right out of the question, as was trying to just tank them or avoiding - the density combined with multiple origin points made the pattern impossible to dodge, and being hit by this much would overload even his [Azure Grimoire] in this state. He didn't want to let the cat out of the bag yet, but neither did he want to become a snack to a very alive and very unhinged vampire.

"I'm not out of tricks myself. Restriction 666 released, Dimensional Interference Field deployed." he said, starting up his Grimoire and creating a temporary shielding Ars. "Behold the power of the Azure! Code S.O.L., [BlazBlue], Activate!"

In a moment, Hazama was surrounded by the field of life-stealing runes. Curiously, they seemed to interfere with the danmaku, but that's what the real Flandre waited for. She lunged at Hazama with blinding speed and struck him right in the chest, making him him fly right through the storm of bullets and into the wall at the other end of the corridor. The sheer force of impact almost broke the wall, and certainly devastated Hazama's ribcage.

"Talk about an overkill..." he said, getting up. He managed to drain enough magical energy from the danmaku to heal himself a bit, but it wasn't enough - his breathing was still labored. It seemed like one of his ribs came dangerously close to piercing his lungs, which would surely mean his doom. It was obvious he should stay away from the vampire unless he had a clear shot. In that case, there was nothing left but to improvise. The three clones disappeared, but it seemed that it wasn't enough for the vampire - she took out another spell card while wielding her staff like a sword.

"Taboo [Lævateinn]!" she exclaimed as the staff changed into a thirty-meter energy sword. She started swinging it around, keeping Hazama at bay for quite some time. At some point, he tried to once again blink right next to her with Ouroboros, but the girl was much faster and hit him with the sword, throwing him to the ground with enough force to shatter the floor and almost break Hazama's spine. On top of that, one of his broken ribs did pierce his lungs and he started to cough up blood, staining the already red brick floor with fresh crimson. He didn't faint yet, though his Grimoire almost went into full recovery due to the extent of damage done to him. The last time he got his ass handed to him like that was back on top of Kagutsuchi, he thought. He tried to stand up, but because of his all but shattered spine his legs refused to cooperate and he only managed to get up to his knees.

"You still alive out there?" Flandre asked as the spell card timed out and she floated down to the ground, carelessly stepping inside Hazama's runes' range, smiling as she looked at him, battered but still alive. "Most toys would end up broken by now. I'm sure lucky to have found you!"

"...Toys, you say..." he spat out with rage, hastily draining enough of the vampire's life force to heal his body a bit and allowing him to fully stand up.

 **BGM: Gluttony Fang**

"There's no way in hell you're gonna make ME your toy, you spoiled bitch! Ouroboros!" he shouted, finally losing his cool in a fit of insane narcissism, just like Terumi, and shot his chain right in the direction of the girl. When it connected, Hazama actively used Ouroboros' mental attack to destroy her mind, like she'd destroyed his body moments ago. What he didn't expect was seeing what lied in there.

What he saw was almost five hundred years spent in isolation because of the girl's power to destroy anything and everything, slowly getting more and more insane as the years passed without any contact with the world. Now she was just a centuries-old, bloodsucking, emotionally unstable child left only with desire to explore the world outside the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Only a few times somebody had visited, and now she craved more. A pity she couldn't differentiate between people and food. Neither she knew that her idea of 'playing' tended to cause extreme collateral damage. Hazama felt that the girl was experiencing the same memories and any emotions assorted with them, so he braced for a frantic assault as she started to shake violently.

"Get out of my head!" Flandre screamed loudly enough to bring his eardrums almost to the breaking point. He hoped this didn't alert any other denizens of the building, especially Remilia, who would surely gut him like a fish, skin him alive, boil him in molten lead or whatever a scorned vampire did, but he decided not to take any chances and get the hell out of here as soon as possible. In the meantime, the girl pulled out yet another spell card. "Forbidden Barrage [Counter Clock]!"

If she wasn't angry before, Hazama could see Flandre was now pissed as hell: danmaku flew all over the place, almost without any free space between. In a moment, the pattern cleared out, and he could see that it was pretty easy: a spread shot combined with two sets of four lasers spinning around separate, moving pivots. Instead of running away, he chose to attack her directly this time and, choosing a moment when the lasers ceased their spinning. feinted a head-on assault with Ouroboros. When she shot a stream of bullets at him, he made a quick sidestep and jumped right next to her. Then Hazama prepared a combination of two of his signature techniques.

"Die... Serpent's Infernal Rapture!" he shouted, making a savage upward kick empowered with the [Azure Grimoire]'s energy that launched Flandre high into the air. The attack caused her to almost hit the ceiling and broke the spell card. He then brought her back to the floor with Ouroboros, changed into his stance, dashed towards her and unleashed another devastating attack before she could recover.

"And now!" he shouted, binding Flandre with the Nox as he lifted her into the air, axe kicking her to the ground as she tried to break free and repeatedly stomping on her head, each time harder than the last. He finished his brutal onslaught by roundhouse kicking the vampire straight into the already damaged wall, breaking it. To his immense delight, Hazama saw the entrance to the basement right behind it.

"Animals like you should be left locked forever." he muttered, picking up his fedora from the ground and dusting it off. "And say hello to your sister from me." he taunted the girl as he went for the door.

"Shut...up..." Flandre said, trying to get up from the rubble and again preparing to obliterate the egotistical maniac before her. Hazama's Grimoire now reacted to the girl using her ability, having observed it through her memories, and he turned around to kick her right between the eyes, clouding her vision a little. She deserved an appropriate punishment for that, he thought.

"Do any of you shitty vampires ever learn to stay down? Sheesh, I hope at least your sister can see whenever she fights somebody out of her league."

"Don't you dare insult... onee-sama..."

"Oh, the family bonds. How beautiful, yet also hollow." Hazama shrugged with a sadistic smile, and then picked her up by the collar, staring right into her eyes. " How much do you know about her, really?" he asked as Flandre noticed the snake-like gaze, but didn't say a word, simply staring back at him defiantly.

"Stubborn, aren't we? It's only natural that you'd defend your 'onee-sama' like this, but I bet you don't know why she locks you away here, in the mansion."

"She wants to defend me from the likes of you."

"Oh, I'm flattered, my dear." he said with another false smile. "But is that really what it seems? Does she want to defend you from the world... or the world from you?"

"What?" Flandre had no idea what Hazama spoke about. She knew how dangerous her power could be, but she also promised not to use it unless the circumstances demanded it. Then again, she admitted, she'd only learned of it a few weeks ago.

"Just think about it. A small girl, born with power to destroy anything at her whim. What would happen if she, in her childishness, started attacking those around herself while pretending to, I don't know... 'play'?" he smiled sadistically.

"Let go of me!" the little vampire said, not wanting to hear a single word anymore. She tried to free herself from his grasp, but only now she realized that the green runes had all but robbed her of her power. Her attempt only amused Hazama even more.

"Oh, you're all cute when you struggle like that. But back to where I left... You'd undoubtedly have slaughtered numerous people, so you had to be locked away, like a rabid monster you are. Because of your actions, Remilia grew ashamed of you and your lack of self-control."

"Don't you dare... lie to me..."

"Believe me, if there's anybody who hates lies more than I do, I'd like to meet them." Hazama said offhandedly. "You were supposed to learn over those years how to control yourself, and what? You only indulged in your childish desires for 'fun'. You're just an old yet infantile vampire. There's no need for somebody like you in society, even amongst your kind. No need for somebody so utterly careless. You're nothing but a disgrace to the family, with your childish obliviousness and uncontrollable power."

"Shut up..." Flandre said, still angry at the man, but with a tinge of fear.

"You've been lying to yourself all those long years." he continued, fully intent on obliterating whatever remained of her self-confidence. "And not only about yourself, but your relationship with Remilia, too. You two like to pretend that you're all loving family, but idamn/i you must be dumb to not have noticed by now... Did she ever allow you to leave, even during the night? She knows no simple human or youkai would be able to harm you permanently. She's ashamed of showing such a freak to the public. Even her friend, that magician, knows that. I mean, why would she summon a rain just to stop you from leaving?"

"Stop this..."

"Seriously, why do you insist on living the lie? It's not like that's something normal girls would do right? Oops, my bad. You can't be considered 'normal', so it's not like you can live up to those standards, can you? Hyahahahahaha!"

"You're wrong..." she said, her anger all but gone now, replaced by despair.

"Am I, now?" he whispered, mimicking her earlier behavior and bringing her face right up to his own. "Your sister isn't as ideal as you think. She resents you, fears you. She fears that one day, you will lose your shit and destroy everything around. I wouldn't call that impossible, given your general emotional state, and I'm sure she would agree..."

"Please... stop..." she said, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. The notion of her onee-sama hating her has rent her heart far more than any weapon ever could. Hazama noticed that repeated strikes with Ouroboros made her much easier to influence - normally, he wouldn't be able to break anybody like this right after fighting with them, and the girl's emotional instability certainly helped. He was actually surprised with how much shit he managed to get away with in this conversation. However, it was high time he finished it and left the mansion.

"Hey, cheer up. It's not like it can get any worse, right?" he made a faux smile, and in a second changed it into a sick grin. "Or can it?..."

"No...No..."

"When you look at it, she could even envy you. Let's say she does, for the sake of argument. In this case, she desires your power, simply because it's what it is. She could obliterate every adversary with it, but she has only the power to manipulate fate." Hazama knew this power wasn't something weak - it took numerous timelines before Terumi disabled Takamagahara, who were capable of performing Phenomena Intervention. Though he was resistant to it, he wasn't invulnerable, but utter annihilation was always worse than manipulation. "And what a surprise, powers cannot be transferred! Remilia is enraged, since your only use has just disappeared, and what does she do? She sends you to the basement to live the rest of your miserable existence there and so she would be able to forget how much a disappointment you are. That's called passive-aggressive behavior, by the way.""

"You...don't mean..." the blond vampire whispered in disbelief. She hoped he wouldn't say the next words and confirm her fears.

"You've finally got it! A round of applause to the imōto-chan!" he said, clapping at her. "Locking you up is not a way to protect you from the world as you were told all the time. It's a revenge for you being the way you are."

At this moment Flandre started looking at him with utter despair.

"That's right." Hazama said with sadistic glee. "Her loving attitude is nothing but a lie. She wishes you'd never been born."

"No...this can't be..."

"I know it's hard to accept, but that is the truth." he mockingly cooed. The truth called 'despair'. "It would be better for you to die. Disappear. And never show up again." he finished, throwing her to the rubble again and moving towards what seemed to be the exit, leaving the silently sobbing, battered Flandre alone with her thoughts.

It's been time he had broken somebody like this, and it felt especially ecstatic.

* * *

 **\- 2200/05/06 5th Hierarchical City [Ibukido] -**

Noel prepared to once again dive into the Embryo. She heard that Tsubaki went AWOL, but she couldn't do anything about it. Kagura took it upon himself to stop the redhead from doing anything stupid (something which, for some reason, highly amused Yukari when she heard about it), so there was nothing left but to once again try to locate Ragna.

She remembered the state he was left in after Izanami finally made his Grimoire go berserk: no longer capable of controlling himself, he practically begged both her and Jin, despite hating his brother, to run away without looking back. At the time, both her former commanding officer and herself were determined to defeat Ragna there and then. She still felt nauseous when she thought of the battle: the white-haired man no longer moved like a human being, but like a feral animal, aiming to rip both her and Jin to shreds. If it wasn't for her pinning Ragna to the ground with Petals after he attacked Jin with a whirlwind of pure seithr and picking up the blond man as fast as she could, Celica wouldn't be able to save any one of them. Even then he recovered only thanks to the young magician and those shady pills prepared by Kokonoe. It went without saying that even if she managed to find Ragna this time, engaging in battle with him would be suicide.

"So, are you ready, Noel-chan?" Yukari asked through the girl's headpiece.

"As ready as possible." she said, standing near the Embryo's surface.

"In that case, good luck. I'll be sharing vision with you, if you don't mind~"

"That's okay by me. Thank you for the help, Yukari-san."

"It's nothing, sweetie." she said cheerfully. Noel took a step and, Observing herself entering the swirling mass of compressed seithr, passed through its surface.

"Is that what you people call 'Boundary'?" Yukari asked. Noel floated through a dark space, illuminated only by her own body, glowing with an azure hue.

"Not exactly, but it's similar." she said. "The Boundary can only be accessed by Cauldrons."

"But there seems to be a comparable density of seithr..."

"You can measure seithr density here?" Noel asked.

"Youkai like me see more than humans." Yukari said, avoiding the topic. "How are those souls represented, now?"

"Do you see those bulbs of azure light? Most of those are the souls of people used in summoning the Nemesis Horizon and creating the Embryo." Noel explained.

"However, some of them come even from the depths of the Boundary, like Lambda."

"You mean that girl you rescued?"

"Yes. She was long dead when Kokonoe found her and implanted Nu's soul into her. We didn't expect Lambda to wind up here, but any ally we can get is welcome." The girl chuckled. "And now I have an older sister."

"Good for you, then... I'm not as good with souls as my friend Yuyuko, but I can look into them enough to determine what they could be." Yukari said. "Turn to the left. Can you see the dim one in the middle of that cluster?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"I can see it's a very old soul. This dim light might be a sign that it has accumulated large amount of damage during it's lifetime, and [Azure Grimoire] supposedly records any kind of physical damage as scarring of the soul. Its boundaries do show sigh of heavy wear."

"You think it's Ragna?" Noel asked, floating through the darkness towards the soul Yukari mentioned.

"I'm pretty sure. He has possessed the Grimoire in all timelines after all."

"Okay then..." Noel said to herself. She tried to Observe this soul as it was, existing in a dream realm and transporting herself to it. In an instant, she found herself inside of a burning building, with Ragna's monstrous form in the middle of the flames.

"You were right, Yukari-san. Can you patch me up to Rachel?" the girl asked.

"Wait a second..." Yukari said, looking at the man. His right arm, replaced with one of Black Beast's paws, twitched a little. "It's much more aggressive than any youkai that has ever lived Gensokyo. Get out of there, now!"

"All ri-Gyah!" the girl screamed as the mindless form of a man lunged at her. She could see the pleading look in his eyes. 'Why did you come here, Noel?', they seemed to tell. Running as fast as possible, the girl focused all of her power on leaving the Embryo before she ended up dead, and burst out from the floating mass of seithr moments later. Shaking off the shock, Noel immediately called Rachel.

"I've located Ragna."

* * *

 **\- 129/05/16 Gensokyo, Scarlet Devil Mansion -**

Wasn't that a crazy day, Meiling thought as she looked at the night sky. An Outsider enters the mansion and the same day some mysterious assailants blow up the clock tower. She could sense that this guy... Hazama, he called himself? His aura was strange, neither human nor youkai, but very otherworldly... At least Patchouli-sama managed to subdue him before he did anything nasty. In all fairness, how he continued to plead innocence did seem truthful...

Just then Meiling saw a woman flying towards the gates. She had silver hair, made in two small braids with little green ribbons framing her face and wearing a standard maid outfit. Finally she's here, the gatekeeper thought.

"What happened, Meiling?" the maid asked as soon as she landed. "I leave to get regular supplies from Rinnosuke-san and somebody blows up the clock tower in the meantime?"

"Long story short, Sakuya," the redhead said, gesturing for the maid to pass. "an Outsider with green hair asked to meet Patchouli-sama, sparred with her for two hours, stayed for tea and cake, while some people or youkai brought a few barrels of gunpowder from the storehouse all the way to the clock tower and blew it up."

"And you didn't notice them?" Sakuya asked, but raised her hand when the gatekeeper tried to respond. "I know, I know. Your usual nap?"

"Yes and no... He did come at that time, but at least had the courtesy to wake me up instead of ignoring me..." Meiling rubbed the back of her head, smiling sheepishly. "But I didn't notice anybody trying to sneak inside."

"Hmm... Did he engage in a conversation with you?"

"Just small talk."

"If those were any youkai worth their salt, then that would be enough... What did you do to him?"

"Patchouli-sama bound him and he was thrown to the basement."

"Then he's a dead man walking at best." Sakuya concluded. "Still, I'll ask Milady for permission to interrogate him."

"I hear ya. Have fun." Meiling said, going back to the gate.

"I sure will."

* * *

As soon as he exited the basement, Hazama deactivated the Grimoire - sneaking out of the mansion while leaving such a beacon of pure energy on would be counterintuitive - and used the strongest concealment Ars he knew. The fairies could have been completely fooled, but he didn't want to bump into any notable resident like Remilia or the head maid. The latter was supposed to come back in the evening, after all.

The first thing he chose to do was to locate the ground level. It wasn't hard if he remembered to check every wall for windows, though all the floors seemed to be much larger than it would be physically possible, considering the exterior. Back when he first entered the mansion with Koakuma, his mind expected hordes of robots hellbent on exterminating any species in the world. He couldn't deny that the spatial anomaly was real, though.

Indeed, none of the fairy maids noticed that he was passing near them, even when he stood right in front of them. At least they didn't disturb his search for the exit. At some point Hazama noticed a fairy cleaning one of the windows, and he saw that he ended up at least on the third floor. He could try jumping out right then, but he would need to alert the maid, a well as the gatekeeper, or be completely crazy. After all, he just fought a powerful enemy and still had most of his ribs broken.

Keeping the info in mind, Hazama rushed towards the nearest stairs. However, he soon noticed that somebody in the mansion has activated a temporal anomaly for a split second. He started to run at the top speed, though not nearly as fast as he would had he put his Grimoire at overdrive. Soon, he noticed a human energy signature following him. It must be the head maid, he thought, and tried to lose her, running all around the mansion while heading for the ground floor. After another short anomaly, he noticed that the head maid was much closer than before. If she had found out about the younger vampire he defeated, and if she was indeed a loyal dog of her mistress as the gossips said, then he was in for another fight, and he knew from experience that time manipulators were amongst the most dangerous opponents.

Finally, as he ended up on the ground floor, the head maid moved right in front of him.

"And where are you going?" she asked.

"Outside." Hazama joked. "Your mistress has imprisoned me without a reason, and I'm a very busy man."

"Is conveniently allowing terrorists to sneak into the mansion not a reason enough?"

"How can you prove that it was I who allowed them to enter?" he countered.

"We have our ways." Sakuya said, looking straight into Hazama's eyes to intimidate him.

"Ways that, without a doubt, point towards yours truly?" he shrugged. "I highly doubt they are unbiased."

"You do not need to trust us. We can get the miko to solve this case, and she will not be pleasant."

"Less pleasant than your fairies when they manhandle - or, womanhandle - people into cells?" he tried to joke again.

"You can see for yourself."

"Tempting, but no thanks." he said, shaking his head. "If you want, I can tell you everything that happened since I entered Gensokyo."

"Milady has already passed her judgement, which you shall obey." Sakuya said, completely serious.

"Oh please, don't give me that." Hazama said, slowly losing his cool. Why being a vampire came in packet with a blindly obedient lapdog? "There are no absolutes in the world. Even your mistress might change her mind if she reviews the facts once again, after cooling off."

"The facts speak for themselves." she said, reaching for a holster on her left thigh. "Now go back to your cell."

There's no convincing this dog of the devil, Hazama thought. However, activating the Grimoire now would alert everybody in the mansion. Making a run for it wasn't an option, either - there still was the issue of the gatekeeper, since she constantly observed the whole entrance and would notice him should he move too quick. He could only fight.

 **BGM: Flowering Night**

"I didn't want to do this, but..." he said, changing his stance, and then shot at Sakuya with his Nox. "Ouroboros!" The maid quickly threw a few knives at the chain, but all of them were bounced off its metallic snake head without changing the chain's trajectory. It caught her by her left arm as Hazama blinked behind her and made a sweep kick, tripping Sakuya. She rolled out of the way when she saw him slipping into a stance and threw a knife directly to his forehead, but he blocked it with his own balisong.

"You're outta luck, girl. I know all the knife tricks in the book." he wagged his finger at the maid and ran up to her, trying to cut her across the face. She blocked the strike with her own knives and went for a low kick, to which Hazama reacted by jumping straight at her and making a rising slash in the air. Sakuya managed to roll to the side and avoid being slashed across her back.

"Knowledge does not always mean skill." she retorted, pulling out an ace of hearts. Hazama reacted by shooting Ouroboros at her, but the maid blinked right in front of him, ready to slit his throat. He reacted by pulling himself up with the chain and flying towards the vantage point, though he got cut in his ankle.

"Nu-uh, this won't do." he taunted her again, only to see her pulling out an old-fashioned pocket watch and, in an instant, he was surrounded with an insane amount of knives, flying at him from every direction. He was forced to use a bursting Ars in conjunction with activating his Grimoire for a few seconds in order to not become a pincushion.

"What next, a roadroller?" he asked in jest as he shot Ouroboros at Sakuya and axe kicked her into the ground thanks to the Grimoire increasing his reaction speed. The maid used the opportunity to pull him down as she stood up, tripping the green-haired man.

"Had enough?" she asked, holding a knife to his throat.

"How about 'no'?" Hazama taunted the maid once more, taking a small throwing knife out of his sleeve and driving it into Sakuya's side up to the handle, making her jerk away from him in pain. He used the opportunity to throw her into the air and stand up, preparing a retaliatory strike. He used a binding Ars as Sakuya landed on the ground.

"Eternal Coils of the Dragon Serpent!" he shouted, pulling the maid towards himself with Ouroboros and unleashing a flurry of knife slashes, mainly her limbs to disable her from moving. He finished the combination with a strike from his snake spirits, and ran to the maid before she could try to get up. He then decided to follow up with an attack he had copied off of Terumi, but never tried before: he picked Sakuya up by the collar with one arm while placing the other one on her stab wound, locked with two snake spirits and injected a large amount of seithr generated by the Grimoire during the previous battle through his arms into her body. Finally, he roundhouse kicked her into one of the walls.

"Let me give you two pieces of advice." Hazama said as he deactivated the Grimoire and walked towards the maid, who had problems standing up from the floor because of the deep gashes on her both legs, the stab wound in her side and seithr ravaging her body from within. "One. If you unconditionally accept what the vampire tells you, you will one day end up killed by somebody she had underestimated. Two. It would be much better for you to head to the basement."

"What... Did you fight the young mistress?" Sakuya asked trying to stand up again, but Hazama stomped on her head and ground it into the floor with his heel.

"Don't interrupt me!" he shouted angrily. "Where was I?... Oh, yes. The basement, both figuratively and literally. If you wanted to get rid of me, then no dice. Even a vampire like the little sister can't stop me." he gloated, kicking the maid once again. Oh, this day started like shit, but now it was one of the best days ever.

"What did you do to her?!" Sakuya shouted with whatever anger was left in her, but Hazama stomped on her throat to silence her. She had to be very resilient to still stay conscious after being injected with this much seithr, not to mention her trying to bark like that.

"Oh, nothing much, just had a nice little talk back there. You should really hear her thoughts on the matter." He then turned her over so she laid on her back. "You maids are much easier than I thought... Nighty-night." he said with a faux smile, opening his eyes meeting Sakuya's gaze. Only then she noticed that his eyes were golden and had slits instead of normal pupils, like those of a snake. A second later Hazama knocked her out with a powerful kick to the base of her nose.

"Sheesh, I'm getting winded." he said to himself as he walked towards the exit. He really hoped he wouldn't have to fight that gatekeeper, or else the vampire sisters would make sure that the cell back in the basement became his personal hell.

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM THE GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Saigyou Ayakashi  
Race: Youkai (cherry blossom tree)  
Danger Level: Extremely High (cognitohazard; currently sealed)  
Aggression Level: Extremely High / Omnicidal  
Date of sprouting: Unknown (over 1000 years old)  
Habitat: Netherworld

Special Ability / Drive: Poet's Charm

In its active state, capable of mesmerizing humans with its beauty and making them rest in its shade while draining their souls to empower itself.

Name: Flandre Scarlet  
Gender: Female  
Race: Vampire  
Danger Level: Extremely High  
Aggression Level: High  
Date of birth: 1508  
Birthplace: Europe  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Red  
Hair: Blond  
Weapon: Danmaku, magic, Nox-class weapon "Lævateinn"

Special Ability / Drive: There Was None

In addition to various abilities assorted with vampires, capable of destroying anything she wishes by remotely crushing the 'eye' (tension core) of the target. Does not work on individuals under effect of a Hourai Elixir.

Name: Sakuya Izayoi  
Gender: Female  
Race: Human (disputed; see Addendum)  
Date of birth: Unknown (appears to be 20)  
Birthplace: Unknown  
Blood type: Unknown  
Eyes: Blue  
Hair: Silver  
Weapon: Danmaku, knives

Special Ability / Drive: Luna Dial

Capable of freely manipulating time (halting, slowing down or speeding up its flow, but not reversing time) and space (consequence of Einstein's theory of relativity).

Addendum: Several sources, including the [Gensokyo Chronicle], claim that the subject might be a Lunarian, a vampire or a dhampir. However, none of those theories have been confirmed, and the subject herself refuses to elaborate on the matter.


	11. Chapter 11

Hey everybody :) My exams are already over, so I'll be able to post the chapters a little more often. As always, please R&R!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue**

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/07 Japan, Yatsugatake Mountains -**

Tsubaki wasn't the one to wait when her friends were in danger, especially since she just managed to regain them only a month ago. She got her hands on information regarding the abandoned shrine which housed the entrance to wherever Jin and Makoto were stranded, chartered a private flight to Japan and, as rare as it was, pulled rank in order to get faster to [District 1]. Locating the building was easy, but figuring out how to cross the barrier was a different matter - she only knew it was non-Euclidean and pretty random in how it let people pass through. Since she couldn't do much about it, Tsubaki just chose to wander around for a bit.

A few minutes later she started hearing some noise from the previously abandoned haiden, so she knew that the barrier had let her through. Coming closer, Tsubaki noticed it was actually somebody singing with a drunken slur. A shrine with drunkards around wasn't a good start, but a start nevertheless, so she entered the shrine, putting some money into the donation box. The only person she found was a short, two-horned, ginger-haired girl wearing a tattered pale pink blouse and a long pink and purple skirt, to which there were chained a sphere, a tetrahedron, a cube and what seemed to be a purple sake gourd. She also wore shackles on her wrists. An oni, the redhead thought, and a heavily drunk one, judging from her blush.

"Hello there! Th're sure are a lotta Outsiders commin' here ressently!" the girl slurred.

"Do you know where I can find the shrine maiden?" Tsubaki said, trying not to puke from the overwhelming stench of alcohol.

"Reimu went to inssect the bombing at Scarle's. You'll hafta wait for her. Anyway, I'm Ibuki Suika. Nice to meet'cha!" the little oni said, holding out her hand in a greeting gesture.

"Excuse me, but I'm in a hurry. In which direction did she go?"

"...oh well." she said, less enthusiastic than moments before. "If you go ousside, you can see a mansion near a big lake. Tha's the place."

"Thank you very much." Tsubaki said, rushing outside.

"Not a problem! Come an' see us once in a while!" she heard Suika shouting after her.

* * *

 **\- 13th Hierarchical City [Kagutsuchi], Airship Port AM 11:30 -**

Kagura was waiting at the port for the next airship to Tokyo - in wake of Gensokyo's discovery, any direct airships to Tokyo from all Hierarchical Cities save for Kagutsuchi have been cancelled. It seemed that Tsubaki managed to force one of the ships to drop her off at Tokyo, though. At least he wasn't bored at the moment - the views were simply amazing these days.

"Hey there, Knightbro!" he heard behind and turned around. Before he knew it, he was tackled to the ground by one of the Kaka clanswomen.

"Nice to see you, Tao. Could you just get off me for a moment? Not that I mind." Kagura said, which made the girl stand up and happily skip towards one of the benches nearby.

"What're nya doing here?" she asked.

"Lots of things have happened, really. Long story short, we've found a hidden place in Japan and I've been sent on a diplomatic mission."

"Diplo-nyatic? You're gonna feed them?"

"...Something like that." Kagura chuckled. "How's your training going?"

"Tao's been working very hard!" the catgirl said, flexing her muscles. "Even Tora said that I'm much stronger than back then!"

"That's good to hear." he smiled. "What do you say we go for a dinner? My treat."

"Great! I'm starving!" she exclaimed happily and dragged Kagura off to the closest restaurant. He had lots of time and lots of money, so why not? After all, it's a gentleman's job to bring smiles to ladies' faces.

* * *

"That was delicious!" Tao said, patting her belly. Kagura heard stories about her immense appetite, but the reality surpassed any gossips. It was a wonder his wallet wasn't empty after the dinner.

"Glad to hear that. So, care to show me the results of your training?" he asked, using an Ars to summon his zweihänder.

"You want to play, Knightbro?" the catgirl asked, perking up. "Okay! Ready when nya are!"

"But no sharp edges, okay? I need to be presentable when I get there."

Tao didn't mind Kagura's words too much - she charged at him immediately after he finished speaking and punched him in the gut so fast that he wasn't able to block. The force of the strike wasn't enough to send him flying, but it made him bend over and fall to the ground.

"Damn, that was quite the sucker punch! Who taught you that?"

"Good guy, back when Tao traveled with him."

"Heh, figures..." Kagura slowly stood up. "Did he teach you any other moves?"

"That spinning kick, Nyantlet Hades...was it?" Tao said, tilting her head.

"Well, if you've been training like that, then you'll be a great village guardian." he said. He'd heard about the problems in the Kaka village and was trying to get it relocated, though the Elder still couldn't decide between the possible sites.

"Yes!" the catgirl punched the air.

"By the way, did that 'squiggly' appear during this month?"

"It did." Tao dropped her cheerful attitude. "Just yesterday, but it didn't attack any kittens. It just watched."

"Well, that's interesting." Kagura said and looked at the clock. "Looks like my airship will be here in a few minutes. I'll be seeing you around, Tao. Send my regards to the Elder."

"Got it, Knightbro!" she saluted. "Good luck with the diplonyacy!"

"Thanks, I'll need it." he smiled and started walking towards the port. He had to pass this info to the rest of 'high command'.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/17 Gensokyo, Misty Lake -**

After she rushed through the grove in front of the shrine, Tsubaki made a beeline towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion. In half an hour she was by the lake, noticing a number of frozen frogs laying around despite it being middle of spring in Gensokyo. The mansion seemed to be missing a tower of some sorts, probably because of the recent bombing Suika mentioned.

"Hey, you there!" she heard somebody shouting in her direction and turned around. A few meters behind her was floating a small, aqua-haired girl wearing a large blue ribbon, a blue jumper dress with a light pink blouse underneath and white socks, without any other footwear. She also had two wings seemingly comprised from icicles. The air around her was much colder than it should be.

"Excuse me, but I'm in a hurry." Tsubaki said, but the girl only drew closer.

"Yeah, right. A shifty-looking Outsider comes and a few hours later, boom!" the girl gestured, throwing her arms up. "The whole clock tower is gone! And now you!"

"Wait a second, shifty-looking..." Tsubaki thought for a moment. "Did he have green hair?"

"You know him?" the fairy asked, and then pointed at her.. "Eye knew it! You must be plotting a new incident! If eye, Cirno, stop you, maybe the miko will reward me!"

"Don't just jump to conclusions!" the redhead shouted, brandishing Izayoi's quill-sword when she saw the fairy preparing to strike. She hastily rolled to the side as Cirno threw a large snowball at her. Tsubaki stood up moments later and started gathering light.

"You can manipulate light too?" the fairy said, readying a stream of icicles. "Damn, you've already stolen Sunny's ability!"

"When will you listen that I'm not here to cause trouble?!" the redhead shouted. Trying to get through this girl's fantasies was like talking to a brick wall, so there was no choice but to defeat her. Cirno didn't want to wait and fired the icicles at Tsubaki, who ran in a circle around the fairy and waited for he barrage to stop. When it did, she charged right at the girl, holding Izayoi's shield in front of herself. Cirno noticed Tsubaki's attack too late and, being airborne, was thrown right at one of the trees by the lake. She wasn't called the strongest for nothing, though.

"Take this, you villain!" she shouted as she stood up from the ground and flew right at Tsubaki, who morphed her quill-sword into a whip-sword form and slashed horizontally at the blue-haired girl. Cirno managed to graze the strike and give her opponent a straight punch, followed by a kick and a blast of freezing energy. Cirno tried to gloat about her fighting prowess, but let her guard down in the process while Tsubaki gathered more light, filling Izayoi's bound form with as much power as it was possible at the moment as she shook off the chill. The fairy ignored her opponent, who soon started to run towards her.

"Veritas!" Tsubaki shouted as she transformed Izayoi's blade into a thick-bladed sword and slammed it into Cirno, once again launching her into a tree.

"Hey, why is it me who's getting her ass kicked?!" she said, slowly getting up and rubbing her sore back.

"You're not a superhero, and I'm not a villain." Tsubaki said, slowly walking towards the fairy. "Let's stop this pointless confrontation."

"How can you prove it?" Cirno folded her arms defiantly. She was ready to continue the fight at any moment.

"I'm here to find my friends. They got stranded here a week ago."

"Yeah, right! As if...hey, wait a second..." the fairy said as she searched her pockets and produced a page from a newspaper. "Umm, you mean those two?"

"...Yes." Tsubaki was a little confused - how did Jin-nii-sama and Makoto end up in a newspaper so fast?

"Hmmm... Okay, maybe eye believe you for now." Cirno said, trying to mask her embarrassment as she hid the page. "But eye'm not letting you go anywhere alone!"

"If that's how you want it to be." the redhead sighed with some relief. "Anyway, I'm Tsubaki Yayoi." she said as the two started walking towards the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"Yayoi? What kind of name is that?"

"I could as you what kind of name 'Cirno' is."

"Hey, you have something against my name?"

"You started the topic." Tsubaki said. The fairy seemed to be good-natured, just a little clueless and hotheaded. When she wasn't out for your blood, that is.

"...Whatever." Cirno pouted.

* * *

 **\- Scarlet Devil Mansion -**

Remilia usually was a perfectly calm young lady - or at least pretended to be, no matter what incidents have befallen Gensokyo. 'Eternal Winter' and 'Imperishable Night' incidents, the evil spirits' emergence, flight of the Palanquin Ship, even the youkai uprising - she took them all in stride. Even if the Scarlet Devil Mansion got damaged, it was only collateral, and the culprit was known, most of the times being her younger sister. However, she couldn't let the terrorists attacking her mansion for the sake of attacking and that man obliterating both Flandre and Sakuya be left without due punishment. At least the miko arrived quickly and was assessing the damage done.

Still, the two girls' states made her worry. Patchy had problems with identifying what poison was introduced into Sakuya's body, but it was strong enough to leave her bedridden, randomly losing consciousness and unable to heal the numerous wounds she was found with. If this continued, she would die of blood loss - the man had stabbed her right in the liver, and the cuts refused to heal. Flandre, on the other hand, recovered perfectly due to her vampiric ability, but was evasive and distressed in the presence of other people, especially her sister's, and unresponsive otherwise, simply playing with her toys. Such inverting one's personality looked like what that amanojaku would do, but even she was smart enough not to come close to any public place after the uprising. Nevertheless, if she ever found the man, she would make sure he would beg her to kill him.

"When did the bombing happen?" Reimu asked Meiling, who was currently writing on behalf of Remilia a formal complaint to the Hakurei Shrine.

"Sometime around 5:20 PM. Patchouli-sama dueled with that Hazama for three hours straight, and then the clock tower was blown up."

"Mhm. Have you noticed something weird about him?"

"Well, his aura was not quite human, but certainly not youkai. The way it felt, though..." Meiling shuddered a little. "It was like staring into the abyss."

"Looks like we're killing two birds with one stone then." Reimu sighed.

"I beg your pardon?" Remilia, up to now silent, asked. "Was there another strange occurrence?"

"A forceful breach of the Barrier from the Outside. This guy can be the one who caused it." the miko said, folding her arms. "I think we have to get Marisa to talk to Flandre, though."

"Let's hope that at least the witch will help." Meiling said, as her master only slumped in her seat once more. A fairy maid entered the room and curtsied politely.

"There are two visitors waiting at the gate. One is the lake fairy, and the other is an Outsider woman."

"Meiling, go and see them." Remilia said offhandedly and turned to the miko. "Reimu, what do you say about a quick drink or two?"

"I wish I could, but I'm on duty." she said, shaking her head. "Maybe when it's all over."

"Yes, maybe." the vampire said dejectedly as the gatekeeper left the room. "Just tell me when you find him. Nobody escapes the wrath of the Scarlet Devil."

"Yeah, whatever." Reimu rolled her eyes.

* * *

"What are they doing there?" Cirno asked, annoyed with the red-haired gatekeeper not being present at all, but not daring to enter without her approval. Not since the last time she had tried.

"Damage assessment will probably take some time." Tsubaki said, lightly patting the fairy on her head.

"They are usually much faster." she pouted. "If not her, then at least Sakuya could come." Then the two saw Meiling coming towards the gate. "Finally!"

"Sorry that you had to wait." the gatekeeper said. "Do you have any urgent business?"

"Yes, we need to talk to the Hakurei shrine maiden." Tsubaki said. "And we might help with that man Cirno told me about."

"Wait, you know him?"

"'Know' is not quite an appropriate word. He tried to manipulate me into doing something horrible." Tsubaki clenched her hands.

"O-kay... Come in, then." she said and turned to the fairy. "But you stay here, Cirno."

"Hey, what the heck? Eye'm searching for the villain too!" she protested.

"Whenever you visit, the maids start to get creative with their duties, Sorry, Remilia-sama's orders."

"Meh." Cirno pouted again.

"Don't worry. It won't take long." Tsubaki said and gestured for Meiling to lead the way, who promptly started walking towards the mansion.

* * *

 **\- Netherworld, Hakugyokurou -**

The three of us were sitting in the visitor room once again as Youmu brought the latest newspaper. Makoto caught it and immediately started reading.

"Bombing at Scarlet Devil Mansion? The one near the lake?" she asked Yuyuko, who nodded in response. and continued. "On 16th of Satsuki around 5 PM unknown assailants blew up the Scarlet Devil Mansion's clock tower...swiftly evaded the Chinese gatekeeper...an insider within the fairy maid corps is suspected..."

"Damn terrorists." I snarled. "Not even this place is safe from such scum."

"It's not that unusual." Yuyuko said with her usual, cheerful smile. "The Scarlets tend to get involved in numerous incidents. After all, the first incident resolved through the Spell Card system was their doing." She then gestured for the gardener to bring some snacks as she took a sip of her tea. Makoto frowned at the picture in Aya's article: judging from the distinguishably European style of the mansion and the level of damage, the terrorists must have used a large amount of gunpowder, more than it would be possible to move inside undetected even by Gensokyo's standards. The idea of an insider within was thusly not entirely baseless.

A few minutes later Youmu came back with fresh servings of inarizushi, also informing her master that Yukari's shikigami, Ran, has arrived. Yuyuko told her to let the kitsune in. In a moment the two were back in the visitor room.

"You certainly took your time." Makoto said.

"I'm sorry for the delay. We had to investigate a forceful breach of the Great Barrier." Ran said, bowing.

"That's not our concern right now." I spoke. "We need to talk to your master."

"She'd already met with NOL command and agreed to let you out."

"Wait, just like that?" Makoto narrowed her eyes. "Where's the catch?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Ran sighed. "I believe she'd taken interest in one Kagura Mutsuki." The squirrel facepalmed at the response, while Yuyuko just chuckled lightly.

"Seriously? That's what it's all about?" my partner groaned.

"Her methods might be... esoteric at times." Ran said, then turned to me. "Besides, your girlfriend learned of your disappearance and has already made it to Gensokyo." _She's not...What?!_

"Tsubaki?" I stood up along with Makoto. "Where is she?"

"Last time I checked, she was on her way to the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"I take you will be leaving?" Yuyuko asked the two of us.

"I believe we will. It's been a pleasure to stay here."

"Don't worry. You'll be always welcome here." the ghost princess smiled as me, Makoto and Ran left the shrine.

* * *

 **\- Gensokyo, Scarlet Devil Mansion -**

"Wait here for a moment. I'll tell you when you can enter." Meiling told Tsubaki and entered the throne room to inform her mistress. In a few seconds she opened the door and gestured towards the Outsider, who didn't waste any time. Neither did Remilia for any of her usual routine, as she walked towards Tsubaki.

"It's a pity we had to met in such unpleasant circumstances, Miss Yayoi. My name is Remilia Scarlet."

"A pity indeed." the NOL officer responded, shaking hands with the vampire. "Better now than never if we want to catch Hazama, though."

"So we have to start right now. I'm Hakurei Reimu, miko-slash-incident resolver here." the red-white said, also walking up to the two. "What do you know about this guy, then?"

"He's a former Intelligence officer and a master manipulator." Tsubaki started. "His specialty is bringing out people's past and using it to utterly break them. He did it to one of my friends...after he almost made me kill her."

"The hell?" Reimu said. "Why'd he do that?"

"Bringing people misery is his idea of 'entertainment'." the redhead spat out with disgust. "At least, that's the biggest factor. He was, for a very long time, a vessel for an even more wicked creature, one I do not wish to speak of. And he's not a natural human, from what we know."

"Do you insist he's a homunculus of some sort?" Remilia asked, finding herself intrigued, but no less spiteful of the man.

"More or less. Have you heard of the term '[Azure Grimoire]'?"

Remilia looked at Reimu, who shook her head, ant turned back to Tsubaki. "No, we didn't." Maybe Patchy could find something in her library, she thought.

"I'm not surprised. It's a...complicated alchemical construct capable of tapping into the energy of the Azure. It can be best described as an energy source located beyond the Boundary of the world. Although powerful, the Grimoires aren't flawless: they record any damage, not only of the magical kind, as scarring of the wielder's soul. Moreover, it grows more and more unstable with each use if it's of low quality, possibly going out of control."

"This Hazama... He has one, doesn't he?" Reimu said.

"It might be a bit tricky," Tsubaki said, "but according to my friend in Intelligence, Hazama was created with a high-quality [Azure Grimoire] as a base."

Remilia was tempted to whistle in appreciation of any alchemist who was capable of such feat, but when she thought of the states Sakuya and Flandre were put in her mood went sour once again. "What exactly can this Grimoire do?" she asked.

"I'm not a specialist on the matter, but I'll tell you what I know." Tsubaki said. "It bestows its wielder of a variety of Ars Magus, as well as capability to feed on their enemies' souls in order to heal themselves. In order to function, an [Azure Grimoire] generates small amount of formless magical element called seithr. It's also used as fuel used up in casting Ars Magus, but it's highly toxic. Small dosages slowly cause degradation of the mind, while large can and will cause bodily mutations, if they don't kill outright."

Remilia remained silent for a few seconds, but she decided to trust the Outsider on this. "Miss Yayoi, I have a favor to ask of you." she said. "Can you identify...symptoms of seithr overdosage?"

"You think it's a good idea?" Reimu asked. She felt that if one Outsider brought such destruction in one night, then they had to be wary.

"Do we have any other?" the vampire said calmly and, hearing no further objections from the miko, turned towards Tsubaki. "Can you do it?"

"...I believe I can."

"Good. I'll need you to take a look at my head maid." Remilia said, gesturing for the redhead to follow. "She fought Hazama the night before and contracted some unknown illness. If it's what it seems, he must have poisoned her with seithr."

"...Where is she resting?" Tsubaki asked. Seithr poisoning was no light matter and only complicated healing Ars or magic could heal it.

"The third door to the left. My friend is watching over her."

"Thank you."

"No, it's me who should thank you." Remilia said, sadness slowly giving way to vengeful fury. "If I ever meet him again, whatever punishment awaits him in your world will be something he will beg me to bring to him."

Tsubaki was grateful Rachel wasn't this drastic, if this petite vampire really meant what she said.

* * *

Ran left us soon after we were back in Gensokyo, but that wasn't much of a problem - we had a good view of Gensokyo from the Netherworld gates, so we didn't need any help in reaching the mansion. Nobody tried to stop us as well, which allowed us to fly at top speed. It didn't take us even half an hour.

At the gates, we were met with a very...peculiar scene - a fairy dressed in blue was engaging in danmaku duel with the gatekeeper and winning. Me and Makoto landed to the side and watched the battle.

"Once you're not the one being aimed at, it's easy to see how beautiful those battles can get." the squirrel said with almost starry eyes.

 _That fairy..._ "...Curious..."

"What is it?" she turned to me.

"Do you see what projectiles does this fairy use?" I asked.

"Now that you mention it... are those icicles?"

"Seems like it."

"Well, well. Who'd have thought?" Makoto chuckled. "Another ice user. What would Tsubaki say?"

"Probably that this fairy is a cute kid."

"I'd take her home."

"...Whatever..." I sighed and turned my sight to the gatekeeper. She was a redhead, like Tsubaki, but she made her some of her hair in two thin braids framing her face, with the rest being let down. She wore a green beret with a golden star on it, as well as a matching dress, similar to the one I once saw that doctor from Orient Town in Kagutsuchi wear. Her style of danmaku seemed somewhat sloppy for what little we've learned, though exceptionally colorful and still overwhelming to untrained people. I noticed she adopted numerous fighting stances when she executed her patterns and Spell Cards.

At one moment, it seemed that the fairy got herself in an undodgeable part of a pattern, only for her to outright freeze the danmaku and push them aside. _Very interesting..._

"Eye've worked on this one long enough! Freeze Sign [Perfect Freeze]!" she shouted, declaring a Card and starting to spread numerous bullets all around herself, which were frozen after a few seconds. She then shot a few series of spread shot danmaku at the gatekeeper while avoiding her own attacks, and finally unfroze her primary bullets, which scattered in random directions. The pattern repeated itself a few times until the Spell Card timed out.

"A draw then." the redhead said, landing on the ground.

"Then who's gonna decide which one of us is the winner?" the fairy asked and looked around, then saw me and Makoto. "Hey, aren't you the ones from the newspaper?"

 _Here we go again..._ "We are. And before you ask, we haven't seen enough of the battle to judge it."

"Bummer. And eye'm too exhausted to fight again." she pouted.

"Don't worry, Cirno. You've been pretty good out there." the gatekeeper pat her on the shoulder.

"Tell that to the miko." _Speaking of-_

"By the way, do you know where is she?" Makoto asked. _...Right out of my mouth._

"Inside the mansion. Do you have any business with her?" the redhead asked.

"Not now, but it's a good coincidence." I said. "Actually, we've heard that a friend of ours had come here."

"A redhead, with a strange eyed hat?"

"Indeed." _So she's still using Izayoi..._

"You'll have to wait then. Remilia-sama told me to not let anybody interrupt right now."

I was about to threaten the woman, but Makoto stopped me. "I'll handle this, okay?"

"...Tch." I backed off. _This better be worth it, squirrel._ She turned to the Chinese woman.

"Look, We've been worried about her as much as she's worried about us. It's been a long time since we've met, and the last time wasn't in the best circumstances."

"I understand your concern, but-"

"Yeah!" the fairy, Cirno, butted in. "And the two of us are searching for that villain from yesterday!"

"What 'villain'?" I asked.

"He's got green hair and a black hat!"

Me and Makoto looked at each other.

" _Hazama..._ " I said and turned to the gatekeeper. "Now we've got even more reason to enter."

"But... Oh well, any help would be good. I hope Remilia-sama will agree." she sighed. "Come with me."

"And eye?" the fairy asked.

"I'm going to regret this...You too."

"Yay!"

* * *

Tsubaki finished examining the unconscious maid. Hazama has not been gentle - it looked like he has injected a large amount of seithr into her body, something he hasn't done before. Either she managed to really get on his nerves - something only Makoto achieved - or was capable of easily taking him out. Patchouli, the purple-haired magician, said that the maid's state was stable, but only because of healing magic. Lacking that, she would surely die of seithr poisoning, if exsanguination didn't occur faster.

"Had anybody else been attacked by him?" Tsubaki asked.

"...Remi's little sister, Flandre." Patchouli said after a long moment.

"She's also a vampire, isn't she?"

"Yes. However, it wasn't bodily damage we're worrying about."

"Did he...manipulate her?"

The magician remained silent, which was all the confirmation Tsubaki needed. As she was leaving the room, she heard Patchouli speaking to her quietly.

"Don't...mention that to Remi."

"I won't." she replied calmly and left the room, bumping into Reimu.

"How is she?"

"He's got her bad." Tsubaki said. "We'll need to take her to one of our magicians to neutralize the seithr."

"Tch...This day is becoming worse and worse..." the miko pinched the base of her nose. "I've still got one question, though. Would [Azure Grimoire] allow to break through barriers?"

"I'm not sure, why do you ask?"

"Because there was a breach in the Great Hakurei Barrier two days ago, and I'm pretty sure it was Hazama."

"I've never heard of the Grimoire being capable of detecting and disrupting magic..." Tsubaki said. She would have to ask Rachel about that.

"Oh well. Looks like it's time to do this the old-fashioned way."

"That is?"

"Fly all around Gensokyo and kick ass until he shows himself." Reimu said, tightly gripping her gohei. "I'll be going now."

"Wait a moment... If it's not an inconvenience, could you inform Jin and Makoto that I'm here if you meet them?"

"No reason not to." the miko said as she left.

* * *

Little did I expect meeting a Western-styled vampire in a predominantly Eastern-styled world that was Gensokyo, which is why I had to blink a few times when I saw the mistress of the mansion. Remilia Scarlet certainly maintained (or at least tried to) an air of noble superiority, though at times she had some childish moments. Such as the one we found her in when we (sans Cirno, who was stopped by some of the other fairies) entered the audience room: the vampire was pouring her tea on one of the fairy maids' head while complaining of it being too bitter. She then turned to us and her face went a little red, making a 'you didn't see that' expression.

"Way to go for a first impression, isn't it?" Makoto joked.

"It's not prudent to point out somebody's... impulsive actions." Remilia spoke, ashamed of the display. "Let that not influence your image of myself and the mansion."

"Yeah, right."

We told what we knew about Hazama and learned that he brutally attacked the head maid, one Sakuya Izayoi ( _I wonder if there's any relation..._ ), as well as most probably being behind the destruction of the Scarlet Devil Mansion's clock tower. The detail about seithr poisoning was strange - never before did that bastard use such an ability, even when he had attacked Makoto back in Kagutsuchi. We've also learned that Tsubaki went to examine the maid. "Apart from that... Is Reimu Hakurei still available?" I asked.

"I don't believe so. She's probably already on her way to find that snake." Remilia scowled. _He just pisses off anybody he comes into contact with, doesn't_ _he?..._

"I don't mean to be intrusive..." Makoto started, getting the vampire's attention, "but it seems to me that the maid wasn't the only person attacked, was it?"

"That is none of your concern." Remilia said angrily and sat on her chair. _Suspicious..._

"Okay, whatever you say." the squirrel backed off, then turned to me. "Let's go get Tsubaki then."

"So you know she's here already?"

We saw the red-white miko entering the audience room through ore of the side doors.

"We do. And we have a few questions for you as well." I said, glaring at her.

"It can wait. Right now I'm going to search for Hazama." she responded and went past us through the doors leading to the exit. _The nerve of her... Wait, she wasn't so arrogant last time... Maybe it's this 'incident' thing._ We didn't waste any more time and, after asking Remilia where we could find Tsubaki, went through the door we saw Reimu exit.

After a few minutes, we went into the room. A girl, presumably the head maid, was lying on a bed. She had visible signs of heavy seithr poisoning: her skin was deathly pale, her breath slow and pained. Her numerous cuts were still open and bleeding, as if her very ability to heal has been stunted. She didn't seem to be conscious at all, but her eyes darted wildly around the room, full of irrational hatred. Another girl, one with long purple hair, a striped pajama-like dress and a mob cap was sitting beside her.

"You must be looking for Tsubaki Yayoi."

"Yes, do you know where she went?" Makoto asked.

"...You might want to look for her in the basement, and fast."

"Is she in danger?" the squirrel tensed up a little. The girl only gave us the directions to the basement, which we hastily followed.

* * *

It was evident that this...maze was where Hazama and Remilia's sister battled - the air was thick with seithr, not to mention the destroyed wall very close to the entrance. Tsubaki would recognize that the green-haired man was at a serious disadvantage here even if she didn't receive any military training. Most of the damage couldn't be caused by the [Azure Grimoire] - true, it was capable of utilizing burning or explosive Ars, but from what Patchouli told her, the basement was designed to withstand magical spells at the Nox Nyctores level. Ergo, Remilia's sister was an extremely dangerous individual, but that didn't deter Tsubaki from her choice. Any victims of Hazama's had to be treated, especially when they wielded such power. She wanted to go find Jin and Makoto as fast as possible, but in this case making sure that the girl didn't do whatever he coaxed her into took priority.

The damage was mostly localized, so after a few turns the red-haired Wing of Justice had to follow the stench of old, dried blood. It was unsettling, but she continued to tell herself that if she didn't do anything now, then the girl could do something she would deeply regret afterwards...as she almost did herself. When she finally reached a pair of oak doors, Tsubaki took a deep breath and entered, noticing the little blond girl trying to play with a damaged teddy bear and some wooden figurines, almost each of them missing a part of body. The girl turned around and looked at Tsubaki, first with fear, but then with apparent anger.

"What do you want?" she asked harshly.

"H-hello. You must be Flandre, yes? Your sister send me to talk with you." the redhead lied. Remilia would be pissed if... _when_ she'd heard about it, but it was just for her sister's good.

"About?" the little vampire asked, hugging herself and looking away from Tsubaki.

"About that man...who fought you yesterday."

Flandre didn't say anything, but looked away from the other girl even harder.

"...He told you some nasty things, didn't he?"

"I don't want to talk about it." the blond said quickly and tried to ignore Tsubaki's presence in the room afterwards.

"...I would be surprised if you wanted to."

This answer wasn't one Flandre expected, so she slowly turned in Tsubaki's direction again. "Why?"

"Well...he'd tried to talk me into doing something too."

"So you've fought him as well?"

"Not me, but my friends did..." Tsubaki lowered her head. "Can I sit beside you?" she asked and, when Flandre nodded, sat down on the red carpet.

"You're from Outside, aren't you?"

"Yes, I am. It's not a very safe place now, sadly."

"Everybody keeps telling me it's not safe outside of the mansion."

"I can't really say if it would be safe for you, since I'd never been a vampire." Tsubaki said, trying to lighten up the mood. "But it's certainly not safe for humans, especially when people like Hazama are around."

"What'd he try to make you do?" Flandre said.

"...I'm still very ashamed of this." the redhead said quietly. "He gave me a military order of the highest importance... to make me kill two of my best friends."

Flandre looked at the woman first with surprise, then with curiosity. "And?"

"He almost made me hate one of them for, as he said it, 'taking my place by the other's side'." What she didn't say was that, as Rachel told her, she would die if she ended up being Jin's secretary as she'd hoped to.

"That's horrible..."

"Yeah, I know... I ended up believing him... Then, I bumped into the other one and, though I didn't want to kill him, I was forced to fight."

"But they're alright?"

"Fortunately, they are. And Hazama got what he deserved... or at least, that's what we thought."

Flandre simply hugged Tsubaki in response. After hearing the redhead's words about Hazama, she felt some sort of familiarity form between them: two girls who were mercilessly manipulated by the green-haired man for a nefarious purpose. Indeed, in this short time Flandre started thinking about simply murdering everybody in the mansion and finally earning her freedom, but now she had a feeling that Hazama wanted her to do exactly that.

The girls stayed in the calming pose for a long while, when Flandre started speaking.

"You know..."

"What is it?" Tsubaki asked.

"He did something to me back then... I've seen my whole life flash before me..."

Tsubaki was a little perturbed by what the little girl said, but continued nevertheless. "Did he shoot his chain at you?"

"Mhm."

So Nox Nyctores react to whatever is in this area, Tsubaki thought. "That chain can attack the opponent's mind directly. I'm sure he tried to extract your memories to use them against you."

"Is that how he knew everything about me?"

"Perhaps." Tsubaki said. If Hazama could now effectively read somebody's mind simply through a strike with Ouroboros, then even lack of a time loop wouldn't be enough to deter him from mentally assaulting anybody in Gensokyo, even strong people or youkai as it was evident with Flandre.

"But why would he tell me..." Flandre hesitated for a moment. "Why would he try to make me hate onee-sama?"

"He has something against vampires, from what I know. That would be enough reason for him." Not only did Hazama hate vampires, the redhead thought. He hated many social and racial groups: beastkin, women, children, rebels like Ragna the Bloodedge... One could easily say that he considered every living being sans himself as only slightly better than trash. "And he just likes seeing other people miserable, I think."

Flandre once again felt rage build up inside her. "He called me a monster..."

"I don't think somebody like you could be a monster." Tsubaki said.

"You don't?" Flandre asked, then stood up for a moment. "I can destroy anything I want. Just watch." she said and focused on one of the wooden blocks. She held out her right arm in its direction and made a crushing motion with her hand. Immediately, the block exploded without leaving even a splinter of wood behind.

"...Well, that is indeed impressive." Tsubaki said, still slightly disturbed by the girl's ability. "However, judging somebody solely because of what they can do is illogical."

"How so?"

"Abilities aren't simply good or bad. The way we use them gives them such connotations." Tsubaki said after Flandre sat down on the carpet again. "I'll give you an example. One of my friends possess an ability called the Power of Order. Essentially, it allows them to bent reality if their will is strong enough."

"Wow... Onee-sama can do similar things..."

"Curious. Did you see her use that for nefarious purposes?"

"No, I didn't." Flandre said. "But I've killed many people this way already." she shrugged. Tsubaki almost flinched, but she remembered that not all vampires can suppress their urge for blood like Rachel could.

"...Well, I can't argue with that. But my point is: it doesn't matter what you're capable of doing, only how you use those abilities and for what purpose."

"...Thanks... I guess..." Flandre said meekly, and a few seconds later added "Could you tell onee-sama... that I want to talk with her?"

"Of course I can." Tsubaki said. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Mhm." the blond vampire nodded. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Tsubaki Yayoi." the redhead said, a little embarrassed that she didn't introduce herself at the beginning. "I'll have to go now, but I promise we'll see each other again."

"Okay. Goodbye then, Tsubaki-san!" Flandre said, much happier than before, as the woman left her room.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/07 1st Integration City [** **Ōkoto], NOL headquarters -**

Kokonoe was once again forced to reacquaint with her headache pills. Noel managed to finally find Ragna, albeit with Yukari's help, but neither Jin nor Tsubaki were on hand. If only that girl would cool down for a moment and listen, they could've at least start planning how to kill Ragna and stop Izanami from unleashing another Black Beast, resetting the world or, at worst, destroying the Master Unit and reality with it. And on top of that, the gap youkai informed her that some weird shit happened in Gensokyo and she had to return there for a while. The cat scientist's internal ranting was suddenly cut short by the sound of a telephone.

"What is it?" she said in an annoyed tone.

"Finally reached you, Kokonoe." Kagura's voice rang though the speakers. "I've got some nice info for you."

"Tell me where you are first."

"Tokyo airship port. Had to go through Kagutsuchi."

"We're behind the schedule then... This info better be worth it."

"Tao said that Arakune's been sighted somewhere near the Kaka Village again."

Kokonoe almost spilled her coffee. "You're shitting me?"

"Of course not. And it's not like she would lie about such a thing, right?"

"You've got a point there..." She hoped she wouldn't end up overdosing those pills if problems continued to appear at this rate. "I'll pass that on to Intel and see if they can confirm that. Back to the topic, have you set the comm to the Barrier's resonating frequency?"

"I was about to do just that. Let's see..." Kokonoe could hear the sound of unfolding paper. "Set the waveform to 'piercing', magical enhancement level to '5'...Wait, I'm supposed to get a scan?"

"That's just the last step. Once you do that, the configuration will finish on it's own."

"That's good." Kagura sighed. "Here's hope it will work."

"Yukari helped with that one, so if it doesn't, blame her. Over and out." Kokonoe said and cut the connection. Immediately she began writing a request for investigation in Kagutsutchi - if they were fast, they could recover Arakune, as well as Litchi and Carl if possible. Also, they needed an operative who was capable of handling such delicate job. She hoped that Lambda would recover fast enough - she was by design a Murakumo and her state was well promising, but it would be hard even for her body to get to such state in a few days. With this in mind, the scientist decided to make a checkup on the girl once she was finished for the day.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/17 Gensokyo, Scarlet Devil Mansion -**

"It's awfully stinky here!" the fairy exclaimed once we got deeper into the maze. Indeed, the place was choked with stench of old blood. _I hope Tsubaki's alright...  
_

"And we've got seithr readings here." Makoto added and showed me the readings on her analysis kit, according to which the seithr concentration in the basement was comparable to the one in Torifune's lower levels back when we were still in Academy. "We can safely assume it was Hazama who battled here."

"Whaaat?! He defeated Flan on his own?!" Cirno exclaimed loudly. _For God's sake, could you at least try to be quiet around here?..._

"Flan?" I asked.

"Remilia's sister. She lives here...usually." the fairy explained. _At least now we know who we're dealing with..._

"Usually...?"

"She sneaks out of the mansion and visits me once in a while."

I didn't ask any questions, but Makoto was already searching the Chronicle for any useful information. As we neared the source of this stench, the squirrel tapped me on my shoulder.

"Jin, you'd want to see this."

I turned to look at the article, which stated that she was capable to destroy anything at will. _Better not get in a fight with her... But then, how did Hazama win against such power? Does that mean he still possesses the life-link with Noel?_

"...Well, can't turn back now. We need to find Tsubaki alive."

"Leave it to me!" Cirno shouted and started flying onward. We had to fly after her at full speed just to catch up, and in a minute ended up in front of the sturdy oak doors. We could hear two women talking inside, one of whom was, thankfully, Tsubaki. Makoto put her ear to the door to listen on the conversation.

"Looks like we don't have to intervene for now." she whispered with a smile. "We're lucky she's good with kids."

"So we're not busting her out?" the fairy asked as she folded her arms.

"No, we're not." I said. _Are all fairies this scatterbrained?_ "Can you hear what are they talking about, Makoto?"

The squirrel focused once again, and her smile turned to light frown. "Something about extracting memories with Ouroboros." _Jubei didn't say that Ouroboros can be used for that... Either he didn't know, or this ability had only manifested here... Which begs the question: can all Nox gain additional abilities in Gensokyo?  
_

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the squirrel asked, going away from the door.

"That we're back to square one with fighting Hazama." I said, to which Makoto nodded.

"Could you at least explain that?" Cirno asked, this time keeping her voice quiet.

"...Well, since we're waiting, I see no reason not to." I said. "Hazama will not hesitate to either manipulate or kill you if you're in his way. If he gets the opportunity, he will bring out your worst fears and insecurities, then mercilessly taunt you with them. And if you by some miracle manage to shrug that off, he will consider you his mortal enemy."

"So...?"

"I've seen how you fight, and it isn't nearly enough to defeat him. Even my brother barely managed to do that."

"Hey, watch it! Eye'm the strongest in Gensokyo!" the fairy exclaimed a little louder.

"Jin knows what he's saying. Even during a fight he will try to confuse you as much as possible, and his weapon, Ouroboros, can directly attack your mind. Best case, you'll just be left in a daze for a few seconds. Worst, he gets you to directly relive your most painful memories. Trust me, you don't want to fight with him." Makoto said.

"...Okay, that doesn't sound nice." Cirno deflated. "But eye'll still try to help."

"Suit yourself, then." I said when the door opened and the three of us saw Tsubaki.

"Jin-nii-sama... Makoto..."

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM THE GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Cirno  
Gender: Female  
Race: Ice fairy  
Danger Level: Low  
Aggression Level: Below Average  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Gensokyo  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Blue  
Hair: Blue  
Weapon: Danmaku, ice

Special Ability / Drive: Perfect Freeze

Capable of manipulating cold, for example freezing various objects, even those composed of pure energy like danmaku. Because of her nature, the subject passively cools air around her.


	12. Chapter 12

Sorry about the delay, but my grandma had fallen ill and I must look after her. On the topic of BlazBlue, I'm really looking forward to seeing what Mori is cooking up for Centralfiction. If you haven't watched the trailer yet, you'd better go and watch it now. Looks like we'll get an Arcade boss we were all asking for :)

 **Disclaimer: ...You should know this already, but I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue. Aside from that, Game Boy is a property of Nintendo.  
**

Speaking of Nintendo... RIP, Iwata-sama. You've done a great deal for the Pokemon, Legend of Zelda, Mario and other series... heck, for the whole video gaming industry. We're all grateful for what you did over those years.

23/08/15: Fixed a typo in Gensokyo dating.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/07 13th Hierarchical City [Kagutsuchi] -**

The man once again went through the results of analyzing the seithr extracted from the test subjects. None of it seemed to make sense - whatever the machine simulated could not possibly exist, not in this world at least. But that was what he expected to find, a proof that this world was not the first and won't be the last. It could make so much difference now... however, it was not his choice to make anymore, not after that crushing defeat. His son made it perfectly clear that he was to pay for his deeds and he didn't want to avoid that fate anymore. Whatever was left for him was seeing how correct his theory was while they prepared to retrieve the living seithr's soul from the Abyss.

The task wouldn't be easy - it required a functioning Prime Field Device, one that would have to be constructed from scratch, and a way to communicate with it while it was inside the Boundary. Reconstructing the body wasn't an issue anymore - while the young Lotte had certainly damaged his entire being when he foolishly tried to reforge himself into an [Azure Grimoire], his densely packed current body carried much more information than they needed. He considered storing the soul that had spontaneously erupted in lieu of the original one, but his son quickly shot down the idea. Nevertheless, they still needed to create a Prime Field, and he wasn't sure if they could conceal the energy consumption it required. Lastly, the removal of a soul from the Abyss was a very taxing process, which is why he didn't try to use them for Detonators. His musing was cut short by the sound of somebody entering the room.

"Still looking over the recovered seithr, I see." the Chinese woman said, though the man didn't respond. "Have you thought of any way to recover his soul...?"

"If his soul is in the [Abyss of the Azure], then we will need a Prime Field, access to a Cauldron and a way to communicate to inside of the Boundary."

"All of them are monitored by the NOL, though..."

"Not all. One is still considered completely inoperable." he said with a slight, almost unnoticeable smirk.

"And that would be?"

"The one in my old laboratory in [District 1]. NOL won't be able to start it up, but if the magical barrier is still working, then we should be able to open it up for long enough to let the Prime Field into the Boundary."

"We would have to transport all the equipment there, and without any Ars... It was already hard enough to get here."

"Indeed, but what are old contacts for?"

"What do you mean?" she asked. "You've got a bounty on your head, and the two of us don't have anybody to ask for a favor."

"I still owe a few favors to quite some people." he smirked, this time visibly. "They will not mind our current status."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Relius." the woman sighed, leaving the room.

"But of course." the man said, once again assuming his usual stoic look.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/17 Gensokyo, Scarlet Devil Mansion -**

We were both greatly relieved to see Tsubaki safe and sound in this place, though Makoto was much more... direct with her excitement. It turned out that she went to the young vampire to undo whatever mental damage Hazama had inflicted on her, a thing just as dangerous as it was needed. We also went to inform Remilia of her sister's request - at first she was baffled that any human, Outsider to boot, managed to approach Flandre in such an unstable state and get out without initiating confrontation, but quickly regained her composure and thanked us for our help. Despite that, she maintained a killing intent strong enough to drive all the fairies out of the room, Cirno excluded - she was instead forcibly thrown out by the vampire. As we were saying our goodbyes, a gap opened almost right in front of us.

"Yukari, when has it become your hobby to interrupt people during a conversation?" the vampire asked the blond woman who came out of the gap. _So, Yukari Yakumo... Frankly, I expected somebody shorter by now..._

"If you have to ask me such questions, then you obviously don't know me enough, Remilia." she said with a teasing smile.

"So, you're the Observer who's been stalking us in [District 1]." I said. "We need to get back to the Outside World."

"Oh, don't worry, Jinny." Yukari said playfully. _How does she..._ "You're way too important to waste time figuring out how youkai think."

"I'll be the judge of that." I said, and added "And do not call me that name."

"You're cute when you're angry." Yukari said, sending a glance at Tsubaki, who visibly flustered. _And pushing the buttons of all of us. Tch. Forget Rachel, forget Noel, this woman is the most obnoxious one I've possibly met.  
_

"I hate to interrupt, but we actually need to go back. Do you know something about it?" Makoto deadpanned at the blond youkai, who simply waved her hand.

"We've already had that arranged. However, it seems you've got busy here, in Gensokyo. Would you two leave somebody like Hazama to his own devices?" she asked with a sly grin. _...Ugh. You've got it all planned, haven't you?_

"I'll stay." Tsubaki volunteered.

"Wait, what? Tsubaki, we're not leaving you alone here. Got that?" Makoto said, then turned to Yukari. "But as soon as he's dealt with, we're going home."

"There's still the issue of my brother. Either me or Tsubaki has to come back in case he's found." I said. _Tsubaki came all the way here, without knowing what she would find, and she'd have to worry about us again if she was send back just like that. Sending Makoto won't accomplish anything, so..._ "I don't like this one bit, but you two will be on your own here." I added after a few seconds.

"Don't worry, Jin-nii-sama. We'll be all right."

"Then it's decided. The girls will stay while the gentleman goes back." Yukari said. _Definitely the most obnoxious._ "Just step into this gap here, it will take you straight to Ōkoto." I didn't say a word, only looked back at Tsubaki. She silently nodded, and with this, I stepped into the purple opening.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/07 1st Integration City [Ōkoto], NOL headquarters -  
**

The transition wasn't as smooth as Rachel's teleportation, but it wasn't unbearable - at least I was back at HQ. I immediately went to Kagura's office, and as I entered, I noticed that he didn't even try to hide his alcoholism anymore, with the numerous bottles standing on and beside his desk. _Did Hibiki finally give up on him?..._ However, Kagura himself wasn't in the room, so I decided to call him. He didn't respond to it, either, so I tried calling Kokonoe instead.

"Who's that?" she asked with her usual irritated tone.

"It's me. Where's Kagura?"

"He went to get Tsubaki." Kokonoe said. "Now I'll have to call him back."

"Don't, she and Makoto will use some help there."

"...Well, at least you're back, Jin." I heard a sigh of relief. "Shit has finally hit the fan, and by that, I mean Noel has found Ragna."

 _Nii-san..._ "Then we have no time to lose-"

"Hold on. While we're at it, could you at least tell me what you've found in Gensokyo?"

"I'll send a written report when I have the time." I said, and added after a second "But we've heard that Hazama somehow got there."

"Hazama... damn it, he never stays dead..." Kokonoe said, pure hatred evident in her voice. "We'll have to send another dispatch-"

"It isn't necessary. Makoto and Tsubaki stayed behind to pursue him, since he already started causing mayhem there." I said.

"As in?"

"As in bringing one person to terminal stages of seithr poisoning and barely mind-raping another."

"Looks like he doesn't want to beat around the bush this time... I'll contact Rachel about it. You see if Hibiki can get you a fast jet to Ibukido." she said, ending the conversation. I walked out of the room and headed towards Hibiki's office.

 _Nii-san... Finally, I'll be able to liberate you of your fate... And this time, no power in the world will stop me... I'll finally kill you, Nii-san!  
_

* * *

 **\- 129/05/17 Gensokyo, Eientei -**

Kaguya Houraisan, former princess of the Moon, was bored out of her mind.

The newspaper said something about Outsiders coming to Gensokyo and talking about it being out of synch with their time while Earth was ravaged by a human-made youkai. The capital surely has heard of it by now, and were probably on their way to teach this 'NOL' a lesson they'd never forget. Either way, being unable to meet the pair, who _did_ visit the mansion just a few days ago, made her especially eager to just sneak away from Eientei, risks be damned. But for that, she needed cooperation of the rabbits, who had explicit orders not to let her out - the recent events at SDM made Eirin suspicious. For the same reason, she couldn't even have the weekly fight to the death with Mokou, something that annoyed her greatly. Incidentally, she'd heard that the girl had moved her stand to the Human Village...

So, in lieu of those activities, Kaguya did the next best thing - play video games on that 'Game Boy' Udonge got from Rinnosuke. Their graphics of highest quality (kids back on the Moon had better games than these, which were apparently made around 1995 in Outside time), but the plot seemed good enough, and it provided some insight into how the Outside World has developed since her arrival almost a millennium ago. The Western civilization ended up being a little bit obsessed with technology, though their scientists seemed to make enough progress over a century to catch up to Lunar technology by now, seeming as the Moon was stagnant for that time from what Udonge told her. Does she still spy on the Lunar Defense Corps?

Still, one can play video games for so long before they got boring, even considering the pretty good plot some of them had, so Kaguya finally decided to devise new Spell Cards from the items she collected - who knows, maybe they would actually prove useful during this incident, if it turned out to be one? Her [Five Impossible Requests], the Divine Treasures, even her new possessions like the Seamless Ceiling of Kinkaku-ji - she certainly had an impressive arsenal, but there is no such thing as being too prepared. With that thought in mind, she turned to her trophy room. As she entered, Kaguya notice a short Earth rabbit, recognizable by her pink dress, scurrying to hide behind the Infinite Spring of Life.

"May I know what exactly are you up to, Tewi?" she asked, not sure if she wanted to hear the answer. The rabbit was known for her... ingenuity.

"Nothing special, Princess. Just... um... well..." the rabbit said, trying to come up with a fast excuse. Kaguya once again wondered how Tewi was capable to move around Eientei like this, completely unseen... This gave her an idea.

"Tewi, may I ask you something?" she said before Tewi could finish making up an excuse.

"Huh? You're not mad?" the little prankster didn't quite like the look on the Lunarian's face, but didn't care much anyway.

"No, not right now. In fact, your appearance reminded me of something." she smiled knowingly. "I have a favor to ask of you."

"A favor?"

"Yes. You do possess the means to move around the mansion and the Bamboo Forest without being detected, don't you?"

Tewi easily noticed what the Lunarian was going to say. "And your favor would be..."

"I would be grateful if you helped me to leave the premises, since Eirin will not allow me to."

"She won't? What now, another incident happened? All I've heard of was a demo job at SDM." the rabbit smiled mischievously.

"I agree, a random bout of destruction at the Scarlet residence isn't much of a reason for house arrest." Kaguya sighed lightly. "Besides, those Outsiders the tengu reporter mentioned supposedly were in the mansion already, and I'd like to meet them."

"You're sure about that? I wouldn't want to get my tail kicked by Eirin again if she finds out."

"If she does, I'll take the blame on myself." Kaguya said, which made the rabbit grin once again.

"Well then, prepare yourself for some crawling. The tunnels are pretty narrow." she said said as she turned towards one of the corners and lifted the tatami, which hid a hole barely wider than Kaguya. It seemed the passage would be tiring and arduous, but not as that battle she had a few weeks ago. She got her main arm blown off in that one.

"Don't worry, I had worse. Please, lead the way." she said, and the rabbit immediately jumped into the hole.

As she followed, Kaguya started thinking whether this was really a good idea, but to be honest, what could go wrong? It wasn't like she could die, and if somebody tried to attack her outside of a danmaku duel, she would simply overpower them with her Impossible Requests. Besides, though her origins are confidential, it only means that every youkai worth their money knows who she is, so there's no worry about information leakage. With those reassuring thoughts, Kaguya descended the rabbit hole.

* * *

 **\- Bamboo Forest of the Lost -**

This was _not_ supposed to happen.

Hazama was once again lying near a patch of bamboo, panting heavily and trying to ignore the searing agony running through his body. It seemed that during the events of last night, he managed to overexert himself and his Grimoire. If he only wasn't attacked by that damn rabbit... Not only he wasn't able to land a single hit, but the Grimoire overloaded during it as well. Left in an emergency recovery state, his body was deprived of seithr, either ambient or converted from the magical energy. Such an irony, the source of his overwhelming power was a crippling weakness now. It would take an hour more to recover, and he was lucky no youkai attacked him in this state - if they did, he'd be as good as dead.

Looking around, he noticed some random rabbit beastkin pounding what seemed to be rice cake. Useless things, he thought. Good for nothing but being slave labor, like most people around. That or as punching bags. He felt especially irritated by the pain, so it was perfectly normal for him to try and vent his anger on whatever he could at the moment...

A few moments later, he thought he heard some rustling in the leaves not far behind him. He shifted himself so he could listen without being noticed. He could hear two people, presumably climbing out of some hole or underground passage. There was some more rustling, like one of them moved a bush to cover up something. Perhaps it was indeed a hidden passage?

"See, Princess? Easy and fast. Nobody will notice you're away until they come to check up on you." one of them said. He recognized the voice as the rabbit who attacked him that night.

"Thank you, Tewi. I'll make sure to remember this spot." the other one, 'princess', said. Well, good luck, he thought. The confusion enchantment lingering around this place would make even him wander around in circles if it wasn't for his Grimoire. Not like it would be of any use right now, though.

"Good, 'cause I won't be here to guide you back. Anyway, have a nice trip!" the rabbit, Tewi, said, and seemingly rushed off, while the 'princess' started walking in his direction, judging by the sound. Hazama shifted back into his former position, preparing for another verbal confrontation. Soon enough, the girl passed by him, though at a distance and with her back turned to him; he wasn't sure if she noticed him, though how she slightly changed her stance hinted at it. She had long, perfectly trimmed black hair and, uncharacteristically for what he learned about most Gensokyo inhabitants, she had no headgear. The girl wore a pink shirt with numerous white ribbons, as well as a long wine-colored dress with golden embroideries in shapes of bamboo and various flowers.

"Have you finished yet?" she suddenly asked. "I didn't expect an Outsider to find me the moment I left the mansion."

"More like you to find an Outsider." Hazama said, miffed. Without his Grimoire active, he'd have a hard time casting a concealing Ars, and since the girl had already noticed his gaze - something that rarely happened, even if he wasn't trying to hide - then trying to keep his situation a secret wouldn't be possible.

"Did I now?" she asked, and turned towards him. "I'm Kaguya Houraisan. May I know the name of the one I found, then?"

"Hazama." he said, trying to right himself up and wincing from the pain flowing through his muscles. "I'd stand up, but as you can see, I'm not entirely capable to do so now."

"Did a youkai attack you?"

"More like a rabbit. The one who accompanied you, to be precise." he scowled, not even trying to hide his irritation by now. Not like he would make a good first impression at this point, anyway...

"Tewi... She's a prankster, but she bears no malice. Do not worry, whatever she had done to you will wear off in a while." Kaguya said, holding out her hand to help the man stand up.

"Say that after you've been laying in one spot for half a day." he scoffed, though he took her hand nonetheless. The Grimoire reacted slightly, but didn't restart, something that piqued Hazama's curiosity. "Anyway, do you know a way out of this forest?"

"Who would I be if I didn't know how to navigate the gardens around my mansion?" she said, taking Hazama's arm. "And in return, you will tell me everything about the Outside."

"Fine by me." he said. A moment of humbling was nothing compared to being able to move around, however irritating it could be.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/07 Japan, Hakurei Shrine -**

Being the leader of Duodecim had its boons - Kagura was able to get a small squadron of NOL soldiers to help him get to [District 1], leaving them to secure the abandoned laboratory and moving on to the shrine. He actually considered himself lucky - it was already dark when he got there, and fighting mutated animals alone wasn't the best idea. When he got inside the haiden, he immediately called Kokonoe to confirm his position.

"By the way, Jin asked about you." she said after a moment of conversation.

"So they're back? Damn, you should have called me..." he said, leaning on a wooden beam.

"It's just Jin who's back. Makoto and Tsubaki stayed to get Hazama."

"Say what? He's still alive?"

"Looks like it, and from what I heard, he's already started to screw with some youkai. Anyway, have you made the barrier scan?"

"I was just about to do that." Kagura said, flicking through the communication's 'magical synchronization' options. "And there we go." he muttered to himself as he pushed the 'scan' button. The action itself didn't take much time, but the screen on his phone started to show whether he was in Gensokyo or not, something useful to have in the area. "Scanned, seems that I'm still outside of Gensokyo."

"Of course you are, the connection would be cut otherwise." Kokonoe sighed in exasperation. "Anyway, Jin send me info about some youkai and humans you can meet there. I'm sending it to you now." As soon as he received it, Kagura opened the report.

"Let's see then... the Hakurei shrine maiden, good to know... tengu reporter... a ghost princess. Huh, never thought this'd be possible... Are there any males at all?" he said to himself. It looked too good to be real.

"Get your head out of your pants for once. It'll save you a lot of trouble. Call me when you cross the barrier." Kokonoe said, ending the conversation.

"...Let's hope the gap hag doesn't get too jealous." Kagura mused as he left the haiden. Now he only had to wait for the barrier to react, so he chose to read the report thoroughly. Apparently, the youkai of Gensokyo were powered by human belief, specifically fear, but the Hakurei shrine maiden devised a way for them to collect it without unnecessary bloodshed. Some of them still attacked humans directly, a thought he didn't feel particularly thrilled by. He noticed something about Lunarians, which made him think where did he hear the term before. Then there was the part about a vampire residence. Wasn't that a one big place for the fantasy, he thought. What made him somewhat relieved was a bird's-eye view of the whole Gensokyo, which could serve as a map in a pinch.

After at least an hour, Kagura noticed that his phone started to beep, and when he checked it, he noticed that it displayed that he just crossed the Great Hakurei Barrier. He was about to call the bossy beastkin, but he heard somebody shout in his direction.

"Hey! You there!"

Kagura turned around to see a short horned girl, not matching any description given by Jin, pointing at him.

"You're having a drink with me tonight!"

"Wait, this fast?" he asked. Usually it was him who made advances on girls, but not on ones looking this young. Judging by the horns, she was an oni, but it still disturbed him to see a girl who looked like she could be eight waving around a gourd, probably filled with some alcoholic beverage.

"Why spend time for formalities when you can just drink? Come on, let's party!"

"Hey, w-wait a second..." he tried to protest, but the girl was already dragging him to the haiden. Oh well, he thought, might just give up and enjoy the drink... or whatever he was about to get...

* * *

 **\- 129/05/17 Gensokyo, Human Village -**

"So this is where you stayed?" Tsubaki asked when the girls reached the small house Jin and Makoto rented. Cirno, who's been hidden by a concealment Ars, wasted no time at examining the expensive-looking equipment.

"Yep, Jin found somebody in the village who gave him info about this." Makoto said as she sat by the kotatsu. "At least the rent isn't like back in Kazamotsu. Seriously, sometimes you just want to stand in the middle of the block and shout 'That's it! The rent is too damn'- Wait, don't touch that, Cirno!"

"Why not? It's not like something bad could happen, right?" the fairy asked, manipulating the analyzer. She didn't really know what 'atmospheric sample analysis' meant, but it sounded really fun, so she pushed the big 'start' button. The machine started to display some kind of horizontal bar and stopped reacting to further pushing any buttons. "Oops... Did I break it?"

"No, and good for you. This is more expensive than what you'd earn in a hundred years." the squirrel said, pulling Cirno away from the analyzer. "Anyway, if we want to catch Hazama, we'll have to contact any authority in Gensokyo." True, the miko seemed efficient, what with her solving incidents since she was twelve, but Hazama has been in the game for far longer.

"And who do you suggest, besides Reimu and Remilia?" Tsubaki asked, pouring some warm tea into her and Makoto's cups.

"We can try with Keine or Eirin. After that... we could go to that Buddhist temple, perhaps?"

"I could go to Eiki-san." Cirno said, flying right beside Tsubaki.

"Eiki? Wait, lemme look her up..." the beastkin said as she grabbed the Chronicle. "Eiki Shiki, Yamaxanadu... Wow, an actual judge of the dead... But how she'd help us out?"

"She's got this Shinigami who she can send to kick the green guy's ass!"

"...Yeah, like we'd trust death gods now." Makoto said. One Izanami was enough for now. "So, we'll go to Eientei and this temple, and if we have free time... hmm, maybe we can go to the library?"

"Well... but only if we have any time." Tsubaki agreed.

"What's that book?" Cirno asked, pulling out a small, ornately decorated book out of Makoto's backpack.

"You brought a grimoire here?" the redhead turned to her friend.

"I... wanted to train some detection Ars while we were on the mission." the latter rubbed the back of her head.

"So eye can learn magical spells from this?"

"Ars Magus are like watered-down spells. Much easier to perform, but also much weaker." Tsubaki explained. Cirno flipped through the pages, looking for any Ars that could help her in proving her superiority to all of Gensokyo, but didn't find any powerful enough. Dissatisfied, she put the grimoire away.

"Bummer. Eye'll get some fresh air." the fairy said and flew out through the window. Makoto only shrugged - after all, she couldn't do anything this bad, right?

* * *

 **\- Unknown -**

The reprieve, however small, had come once again.

He was, if only for a short time, himself. There was nothing he could do - the corrupting influence would take his body over once again. This time, however, he felt stronger, more capable of fighting it. And so, he tried to fight, drowned in a sea of seithr and souls. It was so like the Boundary...

And it couldn't happen at the worse time, too. They had managed to protect the Master Unit, defeated the out-of-control Nox, even rescued the white-haired Murakumo. It was but a moment, and he lost almost total control of himself. He told them to run, but they tried to stop him. At least she noticed they'd be fighting a lost fight and pulled herself and her comrade back. Then, he was forced to come here, to 'prepare'. For what, he didn't know, much less care about now.

And, a few days ago, she came back, but the beast controlled him then. He'd almost killed her, but she quickly pulled off, and he was once again left with his thoughts. At least he knew they were still fighting, and so, he chose to pick up his own fight once more. And, by sheer willpower, he managed to drive back the demonic influence, hence his momentary freedom.

He tried to get a good look at his surroundings. It looked the same as when she left him: a desolate, nondescript town, just left by the Black Beast. He saw ruins of such cities, but never saw an attack actually happen; now it looked almost as if _he_ was the cause for this destruction. His right arm stayed tame, but he knew it could take over his body at any moment. He tried to use some kind of Ars to at least try and get out, but to no avail. He tried to run, but the ruined city seemed to have no end.

His mind drifted to the girl he rescued. It was strange, how she constantly tried to 'become one' with him, though by violent ways. At first, he hated her, did everything to destroy her. Then, she helped him, though in a different body. Strange how she didn't have that psychotic attitude then... Maybe it was her body that made her that violent? He didn't knew much about how Prime Fields were created, but whatever the procedure was, it must have been painful. Later still, he met her once again in her first body, and once again trying to 'become one' with him. It was then he realized she was as much a tool to that... man... as other Prime Fields were, so he chose to free her from her slavery. Something that bit him back - or, as it actually was, stabbed him _in_ the back.

Usually, when he thought about the words he heard after that, his mind was immediately taken over, but not this time - he tried his hardest to fight the influence. Just like he did back then... when he decided to keep his word and not unleash the beast anymore. It attacked his will directly, furiously commanding him to bend before it, but he refused. He kept telling himself this simple, yet full of strength, sentence.

"I am myself!"

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM THE GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Tewi Inaba  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai (Earth rabbit)  
Danger Level: Low  
Aggression Level: Below Average  
Date of birth: Unknown (at most recent 1000 B.C.)  
Birthplace: Unknown, presumably Japan  
Blood type: N/A  
Eyes: Red  
Hair: Black  
Weapon: Danmaku

Special Ability / Drive: Paw of the White Rabbit

Passively brings luck to every human and youkai around her, including herself. Some claim that this ability makes the subject impossible to hit or damage in any way.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry about another delay, but my grandma has died recently and I just couldn't bring myself to writing for some time. Anyway, this chapter finally sees some more action with the three fairies and at Ibukido. Aside from that, forgive me the Marisa joke ^^'

*looks at some tweets* ...Mori, you continue to troll us.

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue**

* * *

 **\- 129/05/18 Gensokyo, Hakurei Shrine -**

"...and I realized he can't attack those who don't want to fight. So I just pulled my sword and laid back. Damn he was pissed!"

The oni, Suika, proved to be a great drinking partner, and even knew quite effective ways to avoid hangovers. Granted, they required using pretty obscure ingredients, but you don't question somebody who regularly goes on months-long benders... Still, there was much work to do, so Kagura decided to (finally) bid farewell to the girl and locate Tsubaki.

"What's with all of you people... You barge in one after another, looking for somebody... Oh, well. She went to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. The big, red building near the lake." Suika said, taking another swig from her gourd.

"Thanks. I promise to drop in when I have the time." he responded with a smile.

"Great! I'll get something good for the occasion!" the oni said enthusiastically as Kagura left the haiden. Finally, he met somebody who he could call a drinking buddy, though the girl's... tolerance of alcohol scared him a little. Still, he could get used to the hospitality, and at least he knew where to go, so he decided to call Kokonoe.

"Morning, Koko."

"Morning." the scientist murmured, annoyed by Kagura's choice of nickname. "Any news?"

"Well, I've crossed to Gensokyo."

"You did that yesterday in the evening. What kept you from reporting?"

"T-the people here are very... hospitable." he said sheepishly.

"I'm not even asking." Kokonoe sighed. She actually had two questions - 'how much' and 'how strong', but she didn't really want to hear the answer. "And the real news?"

"Just as Jin wrote, Tsubaki went to the Scarlet Devil Mansion. I'm gonna rendezvous with them if I can. Anything on your side?"

"Some weird shit at Ibukido, nothing special. Call me in case anything happens."

"Yeah, no problem. Later then." Kagura said, ending the conversation and picking up the pace.

Some time later, as he walked through the grove in front of Hakurei Shrine, Kagura sensed somebody watching him. Neither was the presence particularly hidden nor was it blatantly obvious, so it seemed like this somebody tried but failed at being stealthy. He didn't see or hear anybody, as if they were under effect of a concealment Ars. He decided to confront them, if that was the case, so he walked into the nearest clearing.

"Alright, you can show yourself now." he said calmly, but for a few seconds, there was no reaction. Then, a group of three girls - fairies, he thought - appeared in front of him.

"You're good, finding us just like that." the red-haired one, said. "Even after an all-nighter with that oni."

"You could have joined if you wanted." Kagura joked.

"We like to party, but not to drink ourselves to death." the blond one said.

"Same here, but you apparently can't say no to an oni." he shrugged. "So, you've been following me because..."

"We wanted to surprise an unwitting Outsider, but you've found us out." the redhead said, folding her arms. "So we'll just challenge you to a match to see who's stronger!"

"You people have pretty skewed priorities..." he said, drawing his sword.

"Doesn't matter! Witness the strength of the Three Fairies of Light!"

 **BGM: Great Fairy Wars ~ Fairy Wars**

The fairies decided to surround Kagura and utilize their powers to the maximum, all while shooting danmaku - Sunny redirected light to blind him at various moments, Luna stayed to the side and shot distracting bullets while muting out Star, who consistently stayed behind him to try and get easy shots, or even a physical attack here and there. Kagura, on the other hand, tried his hardest to avoid the shots and land some hits of his own, even if he didn't have any specific firearm on himself. Luckily for him, the fairies' danmaku could be deflected, or at least blocked, with his sword.

"Three little girls attacking a grown man? Why, isn't this a little unfair?" he said jokingly.

"Each one of us is a one-third, so together we are one!" Sunny exclaimed as she shot a single bullet at Kagura's legs.

"I give up on trying to understand you." Kagura sighed when the bullet exploded with light, almost blinding him. The other two fairies tried to attack him, but he sidestepped the shots. After a few minutes of defensive fight, when he had a moment of reprieve, Kagura assumed one of his fighting stances, holding his sword above him, in a reverse grip and pointing it upwards as he leaned forward. Before the fairies could react - Star flew right at Kagura to trip him - he quickly slashed upwards, with Sunny barely avoiding the attack, and followed by _kicking_ his sword, this time hitting not only Sunny, but also Star, throwing the latter at a tree and knocking her out.

"One down." he said to himself, but suddenly his right arm went numb. He realized then that he neglected the blond fairy and got hit by one of her danmaku. It didn't result in a complete paralysis as Jin wrote it would, but this could be due to strength of the combatants. Quickly shaking off the feeling, he threw a ball of dark energy at the fairy, who dodged it effortlessly and pulled out a Spell Card.

"Moon Sign [Lunatic Rain]!"

Suddenly, a dense curtain of danmaku appeared before Kagura and quickly moved in his direction as Luna followed up with a ring of star-shaped shots. Before he could have been hit, Kagura planted his sword in the ground and used it as a shield, waiting until the mass of danmaku passed, and threw another ball at the fairy. It didn't seem to faze her, but this time she didn't try to dodge, more focused on repositioning herself so she could hit Kagura. He repeated the pattern a few times, hiding behind his sword and throwing a few shots of his own. Using long-range Ars will be inevitable in Gensokyo if such fights continued to happen, he thought.

As he was starting to get used to the pattern, something suddenly flashed in front of Kagura, momentarily blinding him. At the same time, Luna summoned another wave of danmaku, forcing Kagura to once again hide behind his sword.

"That was a pretty dirty move, you know?" he said.

"We'll do everything to win!" Sunny answered and fired a salvo of her own, just as Luna's attack was passing through. Kagura quickly slid in Sunny's direction and made an uppercut. The fairy avoided the hit, but a point-blank ball of darkness threw her off balance. The curtain of danmaku having passed, Kagura took his sword and shifted into another stance, leaning forward as he held his sword in a reverse grip, behind him and pointing upwards, with its long grip almost touching the ground. Before Sunny could dodge or Luna fire off another curtain, he made a vicious horizontal slash, warping behind the red-haired fairy mid-swing and throwing her to the ground.

"Two down." he said to himself, once again planting his sword to shield himself from the shower of golden bullets. Repeating pattern of shield-Dragon Spirit-reposition was a viable, easy and safe but painfully slow tactic, so he tried another approach. Noticing the faint magical circle around Luna, he ascertained that it got smaller as the Spell Card neared its limit. When he hit the fairy with another ball of darkness, he also noticed that the ring's opacity oscillated slightly, the faster the more damage she received. He decided to end the battle in a flash.

When Luna fired another barrage of danmaku, Kagura first shielded himself with his sword, then ran up to the fairy and shifted into a stance. Once again outrunning her with his attacks, he raised his sword above his head, briefly charging it with dark energy, then slammed it into the ground below the fairy. A large, violet blast shot out of the point of impact, breaking Luna's Spell Card and launching her into the thick canopy above.

"And three down." he said, looking around. He noticed that the black-haired fairy has already woke up and apparently watched as he finished off her comrade. "Going back to what I said... Wasn't three on one a bit underhanded?"

"Sunny always says that we three are as one." she said meekly.

"And it shows in your fighting style. The three of you cooperated flawlessly." Kagura said, sitting down on the soft grass.

"Um... Thank you."

"No problem." he waved with a smile. "Just don't attack people carrying huge swords next time."

"Sunny will try even if we told her not to..."

"Looks like your leader is pretty hotheaded." he chuckled. "Anyway, my name's Kagura Mutsuki."

"I'm... Star Sapphire. Our leader is Sunny Milk and the third one is Luna Child." the fairy said, somewhat less scared.

"The one who fired the Spell Card, then?" he asked, and receiving a nod, he added "If you combined this with some distracting attack, it could leave your opponents in quite a pinch."

"The Spell Card Rules declare every card to be possible to avoid."

"Then I have no idea how someone could dodge _that._ "

"The Hakurei miko shrugs off more complicated patterns." said Sunny, who woke up a few seconds earlier. "Could you hit less hard the next time we meet? My bruises will have bruises!"

"You haven't seen how bad Luna got hit..." Star sighed.

"Anyway, I'll have to go now." Kagura said as he got up. "If we bump into each other again, you three will show how much you've worked, okay?"

"You bet! Next time, you'll be the one flying around!" Sunny exclaimed, pointing her finger at the man.

"Make sure to train hard, then!" he said, waving to the fairies as he left them. Another rule of Gensokyo, he thought: if you defeat someone, you automatically become friends with them. That is, unless you are obviously malicious like Hazama...

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/08 5th Hierarchical City [Ibukido], Sector 7 field laboratory -**

Ran was a little worried about the strange fluctuations in Ragna's soul's state. At some point, it looked as if he suddenly calmed down for a moment, then the readings showed heightened mental strain, during which his emotional state fluctuated irregularly. Noel didn't see the readings until early in the morning, so she was understandably perturbed when she saw them. Kokonoe promised to look into the logs, while Yukari, like almost always when her input would be highly useful, didn't respond at all. Jin, on the other hand...

She only hoped he wouldn't come back soon, however useful he was in this situation. How he droned about his _nii-san_ gave her the creeps. The tengu would've made a front page about that...

As Ran was pondering, Rachel went into the tent.

"Has his soul stabilized yet?"

"No, and it doesn't look like it will anytime soon." the shikigami sighed. "Is it possible that he's fighting the Grimoire's influence?"

"Given that he managed to forcibly shut it down once, then it wouldn't be out of question, unrefined beast he may be."

They just can't cut it out for once, Ran thought. "Then we might be able to recover him right now." she said.

"True. However, it would be safer had Mr. Hero chosen to grace us with his presence." Rachel deadpanned. "Which I believe we won't have unless we inform him we intend to kill Ragna."

"And if we do, he won't back down on it..." Bearers of Power of Order were definitely tough individuals to work with. "Still, Noel managed to pull back that other time, so we can at least take a shot."

"What do you intend to do if she doesn't, though?" Rachel asked.

"I am a fully-grown kitsune. No offense, miss Rachel, but I can take on a young rampaging beast. As they say in Gensokyo 'the stronger a youkai is, the more refined it behaves', and this one just flailed around."

"If you truly feel so confident about your abilities, then I see no reason why shouldn't we proceed. Inform Kokonoe, her input will be helpful."

* * *

 **\- 129/05/18 Gensokyo, Human Village -**

Tsubaki chose to get up early, even for her - after all, they had to make sure Hazama was caught as fast as possible. She decided to start by asking around, but she didn't bump into any people at this hour, other than some shopkeepers, and most of them didn't recognize the photo. As she went towards the marketplace, Tsubaki noticed the rabbit medicine seller Makoto told her about, and promptly approached her.

"Excuse me, have you seen this person in the last few days?" she asked, presenting her with the photo.

"Let me see... Yes, about three days ago. He simply bought a newspaper and left." Reisen said. Judging by the emblem, the redhead before her was from the same organization as Jin and Makoto. "I don't know where did he go, though. Maybe the tengu know more." she said in a little more quiet tone.

"Thank you. It's not much, but this information is still a big help." Tsubaki said as she tucked the photo in her pocket and turned away, but Reisen stopped her.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to ask you for help as well." she said. "Maybe you've seen a young woman about your age, slightly taller than you, with long black straight hair, wearing a pink shirt and a dark burgundy skirt?"

A detailed description, Tsubaki thought. "No, I don't remember seeing anybody like that. I'll be sure to tell you if I do, though."

"...Oh well. I'll have to ask around, then. Good luck with finding this guy. And say hello to Jin and Makoto for me."

"...You too." the redhead said, leaving the marketplace. She decided to ask the village guards if they saw Hazama, promptly turning in the direction of the gates.

Walking through the streets, Tsubaki noticed that more and more people started to leave their houses, presumably for work. The view reminded her of what happened right after the Lynchpin was activated - she was stationed at [Torifune] to help people there. The Academy was hit by the events at [Ibukido] even more than the other Hierarchical Cities, since it was more reliant on seithr. At first, the place was a complete mess: people were in an uproar when most, if not all, appliances suddenly stopped working. Things would have ended badly if it wasn't for Sector Seven's quick reaction - they quickly built a temporary power plant and installed transmission cables. What amazed her, though, was how quickly students and staff mobilized, even considering the Academy's standards. She suspected it was the influence of a certain Ikaruga shinobi who was conveniently in the area. Regardless of that, the Academy managed to recover way faster than it normally would, with some classes already resumed. It was this ability to cooperate that Tsubaki always admired.

She came back to reality when a child bumped into her.

"I'm sorry, miss!" the boy said, trying to quickly run away, but Tsubaki grabbed him by the arm.

"I'm not angry that you bumped into me, but I will if you don't give me back my wallet." she said in a stern tone. The young thief tried to escape the redheads grasp, but he couldn't match the strength of an experienced soldier, so in a few seconds he gave up and threw his loot at her.

"You're good, miss, but I bet you wouldn't stand a chance against Marisa!" he shouted as he ran away. Tsubaki wondered for a moment what would a self-styled 'Ordinary Witch' would want her wallet for, but dismissed that train of thought and continued towards the gates.

In another part of the village, the kleptomaniac witch was talking with Cirno. The fairy was especially excited about fighting the 'green-haired villain', as she called Hazama, while Marisa, being Marisa, continued to joke about the whole situation. She got much more irritated, however, when she heard about the events at the Scarlet Devil Mansion.

"That guy just asks for a big asskicking, ze! Now I can't just barge in and borrow more books from Patchy!" she shouted angrily.

"Will you join us, then?" Cirno asked.

"No way! I'm gonna find him first, ze! See ya!" the witch shouted and quickly took off.

"What the... Hey, come back here! Eye'm still not finished!" the fairy shouted after Marisa, who was already too far away to hear her. She decided to alleviate her anger by freezing random things: pots, flowers, doors, cake... Well, she only froze cake if she couldn't eat it. During her rampage she bumped into Reisen.

"Huh? What are you doing here?" the rabbit asked, carefully getting between Cirno and the medicine cart.

"Eye'm trying to find the green-haired villain!"

Quickly realizing that the fairy was talking about the same man as that NOL girl from before, Reisen said calmly "I bet your companions wouldn't be happy if you froze half of the village."

"Yeah, but eye have to find him first and Marisa is just stealing the chance!"

So _that_ was what Cirno was all worked up about. "Then try asking around. If you trail him, you're sure to find him faster than her."

"Okay!" the fairy said and flew away, even outside the village. She decided to visit the shop; after all, who knew things better than Rinnosuke-san?

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/08 Japan, Tokyo -**

"P-professor? What are you doing here?"

The three travelers managed to reach Japan quickly and without problems, courtesy of Relius' numerous 'friends'. His son, Carl, didn't even try to work out just what kind of favors those people owed him if he could force them to help just like that. Especially since he apparently had favors in whatever remained of the pre-Dark War JSDF...

"We need to get to my old laboratory. I've heard Novus Orbis Librarium secured it for now, so if you and your men could eliminate their presence, we would be very grateful." he said in his usual level tone.

"B-but if we do that, we'll s-surely get dissolved-"

"Do you remember October 2176?" Relius asked, and the military man suddenly paled. "If you wish to keep that information from reaching their ears, then do as I say. Make the NOL soldiers leave [District 1] by any means you see fit: bribery, disinformation, murder. Do not let them trace the operation back to us. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes, P-professor." the Japanese said meekly and quickly scurried away.

"We agreed not to use blackmail, father." Carl said disapprovingly.

"Why shouldn't we play a card that will get us what we want?" Relius shrugged. "Besides, the incident only looked dangerous."

"May we know what exactly happened then?"

"A few problems during construction of 7th unit." the blond man said, quickly going back to the van, with Carl following.

Two hours later, the three had stopped midway to the old laboratory. Litchi was checking up on Roy, and Relius talked with another of his 'contacts', which left Carl without much to do. He reflected back on the events of [Doomsday]: he and Litchi decided to join his father, only to have the latter utterly destroyed by Valkenhayn. The blond man has recovered a little now, actively working on reconstructing Ada's, Ignis' and Roy's bodies, with mixed results. His attitude was suspicious, though, so the boy always kept an eye on him. He felt bad for betraying Bang-senpai's trust that day, though.

"Are you okay, Carl?" he heard Ada ask.

"It's alright, sister." he said with a small smile. "Father's attitude worries me a little. He looks like he will try to recover from his current situation."

"Don't worry. If he tries, we'll remind him exactly why he ended up like this." she said calmly, using her current doll-like body to pat Carl on the shoulder.

"Yes, sister. We will." Carl laid his hand on Ada's mechanical one.

The two didn't know that a certain youkai observed them with mild interest.

A few minutes later, Carl went back to Relius, who finally finished talking.

"Did the NOL clear the laboratory?" the boy asked, and his father nodded.

"Luckily, there were no casualties. I've learn something interesting: one of the Duodecim wanted the place secured for an unknown reason."

"The Duodecim?" Litchi asked, leaving Roy for a moment. "What would they want there?"

"They might want to investigate the Beast's birthplace more thoroughly." Relius said. "If they think they will learn something about the Beast, then it's foolish to try." he added.

"It doesn't matter right now. We need to move." Carl said, directing Ada to pack whatever equipment they used before they left.

"What is that? What is this person that observes me as I am observing it in turn? Why does it observe and what is it's purpose in observing? Does it look for intruders?" Roy suddenly spoke up in his garbled voice, startling the three.

"Where is this 'observer'?" Relius asked, but the living seithr continued to mumble to himself.

"It looks like a human, but it is not even as it looks like one, it observes humans that it looks like but isn't them..."

"Not a human...?" Litchi said to herself. She tried to look around, but no one besides her companions were in sight. "Did you see anybody besides us, Relius?"

"No. Neither did Ignis." he shook his head. "We should move quickly to the [District 1]." he finished and the group hastily left for the laboratory.

Yukari, who kept watching them from afar, was quite intrigued. That black blob could not only see her, if only for an instant, and even recognize her as a youkai? This situation required a much closer look. Then again, this blob could be called something between a human and a youkai itself... The three seemed to be oblivious to Gensokyo's existence, but this could be changed at any moment.

"Tempting, but this should wait for now. This man is too ambitious..." she said to herself. Yes, he could end up being an annoying opponent if he was left to his own devices, she thought. Just a human, but could read others like open books... Yukari admired the various virtues humanity embodied, but cunning in conjunction with great intellect was dangerous - the Lunarian leadership was a proof of that. After a while, the youkai decided to keep a separate gap just to observe Relius while she went back for a quick nap.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/18 Gensokyo, Human Village -  
**

In the beginning, Hazama thought that this Kaguya would end up being another of those stick-up-her-ass noblewomen, but he was surprised by the girl's eloquence and choice of words, putting him into many tight spots during his explanations. What did annoy him, though, was the constant light smile on her face. It felt as if she was mocking him with every single word.

Kaguya, on the other hand, noticed instantly that Hazama knew much more than he said, simply playing a role - she saw more than enough of such people back on the Moon. She tried to put him in a situation where he would spill some of the more useful information, but he knew well how to choose his words. Even then his façade slipped for short moments which she didn't let go unnoticed.

Eventually the two entered the Human Village. Kaguya was happy to see the simplicity of everyday work once again while Hazama tried his hardest not to appear out of place, to the point of using a disguising Ars - something he rarely did. At that point his Grimoire finally restarted, allowing him to read the girl's soul. What he learned baffled him: it looked as if the girl was immortal. Her soul was eternally bound to her body, never to leave for the Abyss of the Azure, while her body had the capability of complete restoration. Better than a life-link, he thought, and without the need for a second person.

"Looks like the pain is finally wearing off." he said to the girl. "I suppose this is where we part ways."

"It certainly seems so. If you have the time, please visit us at Eientei. I'd like to learn about the Outside more." she said and turned away, leaving the village. Hazama decided to quickly find a place where he could blend into the crowd, but the marketplace was out - he really didn't want to find out if the red-eyed youkai medicine peddler was Kaguya's acquaintance. Instead, he wandered around the village, finding himself in front of a library in no time.

"Suzunaan... Well, no harm in getting more intel." he said to himself and entered the building. It seemed to be somewhat run-down, but that was to be expected from a second-hand book lender, he thought. As he looked around, a young girl, about 12 to 15 years old went to him. She had light red hair with twintails and wore a checkered kimono, a yellow apron and an azure skirt.

"Welcome to Suzunaan. My name is Motoori Kosuzu. Would you like to lend a book, sir?" she asked in a happy tone.

"I'd like to know if you have any books that deal with magic here."

"Do you mean simple grimoires, or the more advanced books?"

"And what would be the 'advanced' ones like?" he asked, intrigued.

"Those are 'demon books' - books written by youkai. Some of them are grimoires, some are written as history books, but the most common kind are those written as a 'last will' of youkai. I've got quite a collection of them."

"Very interesting. May I take a look?"

"Hmm... Okay. Wait here for a second." Kosuzu said and left to get one of the 'demon books', while Hazama simply leaned against the wall. He wondered how normal humans, more so a girl this young, could acquire something like youkai grimoires. A few seconds later, another woman entered the library. She had long, light-brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a long, patterned red and gray skirt and an ecru overcoat, as well as a long checkered scarf, glasses and, peculiarly, a leaf-shaped hair clip. He noticed that just like that medicine seller from the other day, this woman was a youkai.

"Quite a disguise, there. I didn't think humans still possess such skill." she said, almost making Hazama flinch.

"Thank you. I rarely use it though. And you are... a tanuki, if I'm not mistaken?" he asked, quickly recovering.

"Indeed I am. I am Futatsuiwa from Sado, but everybody calls me Mamizou." the woman replied, curtsying slightly. "Your magic seems to be neither onmyōdō or youkai in origin. Might you be another Outsider?"

"You've got me there, Futatsuiwa-san." he clapped slowly. "I don't want to draw too much attention to myself, though, and I'm sure neither do you."

"True. Youkai aren't welcome in the Human Village. You, though... Might you be involved in the affair at the Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

"...Let's say that I ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time." he shrugged. Mamizou nodded knowingly in response.

"And you had to tear your way out. I can imagine. Remilia is quite hotheaded despite her refined manners." the tanuki folded her arms. She could easily see this man was used to manipulating people, so he must have had a hand in this senseless destruction. Whether he did it on his own or by proxy was up to debate, but he certainly wasn't as innocent as he tried to present himself. "It seems that the librarian is busy, so I'll excuse myself for now." she said and started walking towards the exit. "Still, it would do much good for you not to play with fire, lest you burn yourself." she added and left the library.

"This woman is pretty sharp..." Hazama muttered angrily to himself. She must have been in the game for quite long - her speech pattern was old and she instantly recognized he was in disguise, even discerning it as a completely different kind of magic than was used in Gensokyo. If more people like her were to appear, he would have to think his plan over more carefully - even the bombing he planned for kicks might end up giving him problems.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/08 5th Hierarchical City [Ibukido], Sector 7 field laboratory -**

The [Ground Zero], as it has come to be called, was on full alert. Kokonoe had a direct video uplink to monitor the situation, while Rachel and Ran provided technical and, should the need arise, combat backup. Noel has entered the Embryo once again, guided by the fox.

"13°28' to your left, 47°11' up and about 30 meters away. See what you can learn about his state. If he doesn't respond to hails, get out of there immediately."

As it was the last time, Noel entered the landscape Ragna imagined himself to be. The flames didn't die down, though the man himself was kneeling in the middle ow a relatively empty area. He was completely focused on his Grimoire, holding it in front of himself and muttering continuously to it. What made Noel feel safer was that it looked once more like a normal arm. When she came closer, she noticed that his eyes were shut.

"Ragna..."

"How does it look?" Ran asked.

"He seems to be in control, but trying hard to keep the Grimoire down."

"Did he notice you?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Then approach him slowly. Stay about two meters away from him and once again call out to him. If he still doesn't respond, pull back." Kokonoe said. Noel started walking towards Ragna. As she sis so, she stepped on a piece of wood, probably from one of the houses, producing a loud crunch. This seemed to break the man out of his trance; in an instant, his eyes snapped open and he looked up.

"Noel... What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to leave?! It can come back at any time! Do you-"

"Slow down for a moment." Kokonoe interrupted him. "As far as we can tell, you've been holding the Beast down for eight hours straight, and it says a lot. Don't you want to get some payback for it?"

"Of course I do! I just can't risk losing it again and killing all of you!" he said, refusing to budge even an inch.

"Oh, don't worry. We've got that covered." she said. "Stop brooding and get up."

"How can you be so certain? I almost killed Jin last time!"

"Ragna... Professor tells the truth." Noel spoke up. "We've contacted a powerful third party, somebody even Izanami doesn't know about. They can keep your Grimoire in check."

"We can subdue the Black Beast, if anything." Ran entered the conversation.

"And who are you to say such things?" Ragna asked with disbelief.

"Suffice to say we too exist outside of logic." she said, which made him think about the offer more seriously. The moment he stopped focusing solely on keeping his humanity intact, the Beast doubled its efforts to once again take control of his body, jerking it backwards with enough force to break his spine.

"AAARRGGGHHH!" Ragna screamed in pain as his arm started fuming with seithr. "Damn... Get the hell out of here, NOW!" he shouted, trying his hardest to keep his body down from causing further harm to himself or to Noel. Without a second thought, the girl jumped out of the Embryo, landing on a sheet of thermal blanket.

"Ugh... So close..." she sighed, half-heartedly punching the ground. "How are we supposed to fight the Beast now?"

"Indeed, it will be hard to help Ragna if he has to focus solely on keeping it down." Ran said as she helped Noel to stand up. " However, I believe that Master will be able to-" she continued as the equipment that was used to track Ragna's soul in the Embryo started beeping loudly. The girls quickly ran to the device, which displayed a message 'SIGNAL LOST' in a red font.

"What the... This wasn't supposed to happen. I've checked the code twice over to be sure." the shikigami muttered to herself, trying to find the soul manually, but to no avail. "Damn... Talk about bad luck."

"You can't find him?" Noel asked.

"No, though it should be possible to do so once he was located. No other soul is as scarred as his." Ran sighed. "It looks as if it just... _disappeared_."

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Kosuzu Motoori  
Gender: Female  
Race: Human  
Date of birth: circa 115th season / AD 2000  
Birthplace: Gensokyo, Human Village  
Blood type: Unknown  
Eyes: Brown  
Hair: Light brown  
Weapon: Non-combatant

Special Ability: Omniliteracy

Capable of reading any written text without regard for language and discerning the emotions imprinted in writing by touch.

Name: Mamizou Futatsuiwa  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai (bakedanuki)  
Danger Level: High  
Aggression Level: Very Low  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Unknown, presumably Sado, Japan  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Brown  
Hair: Light brown  
Weapon: Transformed underlings (see below)

Special Ability / Drive: Ten Transformations

Capable of disguising herself, other living beings and objects. Such disguises actually change the physical properties of a disguised object or entity and, if disguised as a weapon, become capable of being used as such. When transforming herself, however, the subject cannot fully conceal her tail and ears.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello again, everybody! I managed to finish this chapter quicker than the last one, though still not as quick as I wanted to. There's no Hazama this chapter, but instead there's another well-known (for Touhou fans, at least) green-haired character. As always, please R&R!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue** (that'd be awesome, but I've got only this fanfic)

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/08 5th Hierarchical City [Ibukido], Sector 7 field laboratory -**

" _What._ "

I've been called to the field lab because of an 'odd situation', but this isn't nearly what I expected.

"Just what you heard, Jin. It seems his soul disappeared from the Embryo." the kitsune said in a level tone.

"How... How could you let this happen?!" I quickly stood up from my chair and grabbed her by the collar. "Do you think I'll let you tamper with nii-san's soul like this, you bitch?!"

"I am not going to have this conversation if you don't let go of me." she said with a scowl.

 _The nerve of her... First she tries to extract nii-san without my knowledge and now she makes demands of me?_ Ran, however, didn't even flinch when I reached for Yukianesa. Only then I remembered it wasn't useful outside of Gensokyo anymore, so I reluctantly let go of her and sat down. "Tch."

"I'm glad that you still possess some self-control. Now, before you lashed out, I was about to say that we never had control over what happened to Ragna's soul and only Noel could interact with him in any direct way." she said, sitting next to me. "We made contact only when we noticed he tried to fight the Grimoire's influence, but it seems he's still too weak to maintain self-control and act at the same time. We had to pull Noel out when the Grimoire started to go haywire, and moments after that, we've lost connection to his soul."

"Why didn't you inform me?" I asked, still agitated by the fox's audacity.

"I'll be frank with you. You're too obsessed with killing Ragna, so calling you in on this operation could make it unpredictable. Besides, I know you two don't exactly like each other." she said. I couldn't deny her words. "Needless to say, your presence could quickly derail the whole operation."

"It seems that I wasn't needed for a failed mission." I scoffed at her.

"As I said, we didn't control Ragna's soul nor his Grimoire. I've already informed Master about the situation, but..." she sighed. _At least that's what we can agree on._

"So now we have to wait." I said as I got up. "No reason for me to stay here, then. Send me back to Gensokyo."

"I do not possess such power. Only Master-"

"Did somebody say 'send back to Gensokyo'?." I heard from behind and quickly turned around to see Yukari peeking out of a gap, sporting a look of incredible amusement as she fanned herself. "I see you two are getting along just fine."

"That is none of your concern, youkai." I said, thoroughly annoyed by her comment.

"It's so easy to tease you, Jinny~" Yukari continued as she left the gap completely and walked to the fox. "I've seen your report, Ran. It is a truly unfortunate turn of events, but it can't be helped. Yuyuko said she will look around the Netherworld, though it might take time, and there's no guarantee he actually is there."

"So neither you can find nii-san..." I sighed in exasperation. "I've had enough. Where did Rachel go?"

"She should be consulting with Kokonoe and Kagura right now." Ran said. "The latter should have reached Gensokyo already."

"Then there will be no objections. Send me to him, Yukari Yakumo." I told the youkai, who giggled in response.

"If that is indeed what you wish for, then I shouldn't stop you~" she said and without a warning opened a gap...right below me.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/18 Gensokyo -**

The exit wasn't as comfortable as the last time - namely, I landed face-first into the ground. I quickly stood up and looked around, seeing only an overwhelming amount of sunflowers in every direction. Me and Makoto read about this place - it was the 'Garden of the Sun', supposedly a dwelling of large amount of fairies and a powerful, ancient youkai. I didn't wish to fight them, not when I had to meet up either Makoto and Tsubaki or Kagura, so I started going forward just to get out of the field. Fairies tried to attack me a few times, but it wasn't the most annoying thing in the Garden - the sunflowers were tall enough to obscure much of the view from the ground, forcing me to fly and bringing much unwanted attention to me.

I didn't fly far before noticing a woman floating among the sunflowers. She had shoulder-length green hair of more grass-like hue than Hazama's sickly green. She wore a plain white shirt, a yellow ascot, a red plaid waistcoat and a matching skirt. She didn't have any headgear unlike most female residents of Gensokyo; instead, she carried a pink parasol. Just a few seconds after I noticed her, she turned her head in my direction and quickly flew to me.

"An Outsider here? It must be a cold day in Hell for something like this to happen."

"I did not choose to be here specifically." I said calmly. She looked into my eyes in response, which quickly started to unnerve me.

"Yukari's work, then. I must thank her for such gifts when I can." _Gifts..._

"...Are you a youkai?" I asked.

"You've got keen eyes, boy. A rarity amongst humans." she laughed lightly. "I am Kazami Yuuka, youkai of the flowers. And you are..."

"Jin Kisaragi. Now that we've got the introductions out of the way, could you show me the way to the Human Village?"

"Leaving so soon?" she asked, once again staring at me. "Youkai like me tend to get lonely when nobody but fairies visit. And a strong-looking Outsider is an especially rare case... Mind if I take a part of you as a memento? An arm, perhaps?"

"What the..." I stumbled - or did the closest thing to a stumble in air - as I realized the implication, while Yuuka only smiled in response.

"Don't worry, you'll get it back... hopefully~" she said, closing her eyes and tilting her head to the left.

"I have no intention of being mutilated by a youkai." I said, bringing out Yukianesa.

"I wasn't going to _actually_ do that, you know." Yuuka shrugged in response. G _lad we got that sorted out._ "But if you want to fight, then why not? I didn't have a workout in quite some time... You are aware of the Spell Card rules?"

"I prefer a more direct approach."

"Splendid!" she clasped her hands as she floated close enough to practically invade my personal space. "We'll fight on the ground. If you manage to knock me down for...let's say four seconds, you'll win and I'll show you the way to the Human Village. If I manage to land a single hit on you, though, the battle will end in your defeat."

"I am not fighting a battle on such terms." I said, unsure if her actions were supposed to intimidate or irritate me, or perhaps both.

"Believe me, you will not be able to fight for a long time after I hit you, even if you wanted to." she said with that unnerving smile and landed on the ground. I quickly followed, landing a few meters away and behind her. The moment I did, she turned around to face me.

"Now then, Jin Kisaragi, show me your power!"

 **BGM: Sleeping Terror**

I started by making large circles around Yuuka, alternating between firing icicles at her and rising blades of ice around her, though she evaded them without much effort, even after I introduced variations and slight randomization. Centuries of danmaku fighting certainly showed in her movements - at one moment she managed to avoid a blade that I rose right behind her as she jumped away from a combination of icicles that would normally prevent her from evading to the sides. She seemed to have jumped off a root that spontaneously grew from the ground, probably a manifestation of her abilities.

"I believe you said something about a 'direct approach', no?" she taunted as she tapped the ground with her parasol. I immediately formed an ice sheet and flew straight at her, barely avoiding numerous roots that were about to immobilize me. I threw a few small icicles at the youkai and slashed the ground near her with Yukianesa as I passed by, creating a wide ice spire, though she avoided both threats. I jumped off the ice sheet behind her and quickly slashed her, this time connecting since her side partially froze.

"That's a curious blade you have... Are you really an Outsider?" Yuuka asked as she attempted to bash me with her umbrella. I blocked the strike, but the force of impact moved me back a good half a meter. _She really did mean what she said by 'single hit'... No matter. If I set myself up for a predictable, direct strike, even this force won't be enough to stop my Yukikaze. I just need to think fast and block faster.  
_

"Do you recognize this emblem?" I pointed at the NOL emblem on my glove.

"Should I?"

"If you do not, then it is proof enough of me being from Outside."

"Good point~" she smiled, which unnerved me even more and made me look around myself to check for any roots. "I wonder... is it a technology- or magic-based organization... though judging by this blade, it seems both elements are in play..." She opened her parasol and pointed it at the sun, which made all the sunflowers turn their heads at me, obviously not a good sign. I quickly conjured another ice sheet and flew at her quickly, faster than she could block or strike back, and rammed her with the pointy tip, at the same time jumping off and doing a falling slash across her head; she didn't slam her head against the ground as most of my opponents did, but she nevertheless stopped her attack, stunned by the force. I used the chance to deal an additional strike - I first made a rising slash that threw Yuuka upwards and froze her solid, then as she fell back to the ground I followed with a vicious horizontal strike which broke the ice and threw her away from me.

"A pretty solid attack." she said, getting up in less than two seconds. "Don't pull them though, I'm much tougher than I look."

"I never do that."

"Oh?" Yuuka looked genuinely surprised. "Then you must not have reached your true potential... Ufufu, this will be so fun when you do!" she giggled and spread her arms out, causing two large plants to sprout on both her sides and start to spread some kind of spores. I responded by planting Yukianesa into the ground and turning them into two ice statues. As I pulled the Nox out, I noticed roots coiling around my legs. The youkai was pointing her parasol directly at me, a ball of light forming at the tip.

 _They were just a bait... Not good..._

"Master..." she said as the ball started to first expand, then change into a teardrop shape - with the tip pointing at me.

"Tōga Hyōjin!" I quickly interrupted, slashing the air vertically and hitting Yuuka with the resulting shock wave. The ball of energy also got hit, discharging prematurely into a large explosion and throwing Yuuka backwards, making her slide across the ground and release the roots' grasp on me. I noticed that she drew blood because of the recoil. _I don't want to know what would happen to me if I got hit by that..._

"You'd probably turn into a mist of atoms~" she said, getting on her feet in three and a half seconds. _How did you-_ "The surprise is written on your face, you know." she flatly cut out my thoughts, which made me realize I was letting my emotions slip.

"Tch." I prepared to make another attempt at taking her down, but her expression changed for a very short moment. I couldn't tell what exactly it was, but it deeply unsettled me; a random person unlucky enough to witness such a sight would undoubtedly freeze in fear on the spot, but I managed to shake it off in time to sidestep as she dashed at me, almost hitting me with a powerful hook. I noticed she was about to do a pirouette and hit me with her elbow, so I moved my left forearm to block the strike. The moment the red Ars shield appeared Yuuka noticed that I deliberately set myself up, but she couldn't stop her own momentum - there was no time left as she struck me.

"Kokūjin..." I said as I prepared for the hopefully finishing attack, the Ars bounding her in place and completely negating the force of her strike. "Yukikaze!"

The counterattack was strong enough to make a large gush across her chest, large enough to be fatal for any human. She fell to the ground, but managed to protect the wound from getting dirtied and had to utilize vines to get up, which took her a good minute.

"Expect the unexpected. I forgot about this rule in the heat of the battle." she admitted. "That attack... well, it seems there still exist things that can't be broken through by brute force."

"You struck with the intent to kill." I said, which seemed to perturb Yuuka for a split second. "Otherwise you wouldn't aim for my head. Just like that 'Master-something', I don't think that the 'mist of atoms' was a joke since we didn't fight under Spell Card rules."

"...Really keen eyes." she sighed. "Forget what I said about Yukari, okay? She tends to import troublesome humans from time to time." _Import... Hmm..._ "And for future reference, it's 'Master Spark'." _I think I've heard that name before..._

"If you want somebody troublesome, ask about 'Hazama'." I said. _Might as well sic her on that bastard, make him more vulnerable._

"Hazama?"

"Another Outsider, pretty strong at that. He caused quite a lot of trouble back there. Now he's in Gensokyo, and not because of the gap hag."

"Hmm... How strong are we talking?" she tilted her head with curiosity.

"He defeated Flandre Scarlet one-on-one and incapacitated Sakuya Izayoi." I said, noticing a glitter of excitement in Yuuka's eyes. This, along with her wide smile and the sheer amount of blood staining her clothes, was the thing that crossed the line from 'quite scary' to 'downright terrifying'.

" **Good.** "

* * *

 **\- Myouren Temple -**

As soon as she woke up, Makoto noticed that Tsubaki had left her a note saying she went to search the Human Village for clues and would go to Eientei later. Cirno, on the other hand, hadn't come back yet. Quickly dressing up and grabbing the most important things, she went for the other place they were supposed to check - the Buddhist temple beside the village. The road wasn't long, and she could see that some villagers were going the same way as well, which struck her as odd - wasn't the temple ran by youkai? Maybe they could learn to be actual pacifists after all, she thought. A few seconds later, she noticed Reimu flying south and waved her hand, gesturing for the miko to land.

"How's it going?" she asked when she landed.

"So-so. We've met up with Tsubaki, but Yukari has sent Jin back. I was about to go to the temple for some clues. And you?" Makoto said as the two girls started to walk forward.

"Nothing as far. I've searched the Underworld, but nobody reported anything out of ordinary." Reimu shrugged. "At least the oni know about him now. Oh, by the way, did Tsubaki tell you how is Flan doing?"

"She got better, I've heard. Wanted to talk with Remilia for some reason. Maybe she too wants to hunt for Hazama?"

"Better not. The possible collateral damage would make Scarlets go bankrupt."

"Agreed on that, Reimu-san." the squirrel chuckled. "Now I have a question for you."

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you tell us you could send us back to Outside yourself?"

"W-well... I _was_ angry that you tried to attack me in my own shrine, so..." she stuttered, folding her arms and looking to the side in embarrassment. "And it would look extremely bad if I antagonized you and the word came out, you know. I didn't think you would get attacked by anything more than fairies before you came back."

"PR, then..." Makoto sighed to herself. "At least we've learned that Hazama's here. Every cloud has a silver lining, I guess. No need to worry, Reimu-san."

"I'm still sorry."

"Apology accepted, then." the squirrel smiled. "Say, would you go with me to the temple or are you busy enough?"

"I don't have any leads, so why not." the miko said and both girls picked up the pace.

In a few minutes, Makoto and Reimu reached the Myouren Temple. It looked like some kind of ceremony was about to start, since quite a lot of villagers had gathered in front, but the two girls entered without waiting. Inside, they immediately noticed Ran talking to one of the youkai resembling a tiger. She had orange-yellow hair with black stripes in it and wore a burgundy dress with orange pattern near the rim, a thick belt-like tiger print near the abdomen and white frills on the rim, as well as white frilly pants, a lotus-shaped ornament on her head and, peculiarly, a giant circle of white cloth above her back that, when viewed from the front, gave the illusion of her head being in the center. She also carried a spear for some reason.

"Oh, Ran. What're you doing here?" Makoto asked.

"There has been a... situation in Ibukido and now we require assistance of Shou-san's helper." the fox said to the two girls.

"Welcome, Reimu." the tiger youkai, Shou, said to the miko, then turned in Makoto's direction. "I believe we haven't met. I am Toramaru Shou, disciple and avatar of Bishamonten."

"Makoto Nanaya, squirrel beastkin from Outside. I didn't expect meeting an avatar, but it seems Gensokyo is weird like that."

"I figured it can be unusual to Outsiders. So, Ran," she turned to the third visitor once again, "are you sure Nazrin will be able to find it?"

"She found the Jeweled Pagoda before, so there shouldn't be a problem-"

" _Kourin_ found the Jeweled Pagoda, not the mouse." Reimu interrupted. "And what is it that you want to find, anyway?"

"...A soul that has been lost from the Embryo, one that Makoto knows as Ragna the Bloodedge." the fox sighed after a moment of silence. The beastkin momentarily paled.

"What the... Ragna left the Embryo?!"

"Calm down, please." Ran said. "We noticed he resisted the influence of his Grimoire, so we sent Noel to contact with him. In the end she had to withdraw and we lost his signal shortly after."

"But... it shouldn't be possible... Professor said-"

"Wait a second." Reimu interrupted again. "Is it just me, or is this some huge and convoluted conspiracy plot?"

"You wouldn't believe, Reimu-san." Makoto sighed.

* * *

 **\- Kourindou -**

The small shop on the border of the Forest of Magic was quiet as usual, with only ticking of an old pendulum clock breaking the almost absolute silence. The owner, a half-youkai, was not concerned by it - there was nothing to draw his attention away from this curious object. It was a black plate, rectangular in shape and small enough to fit into one's hand, with one side covered with glass for some reason. He found out it was called a 'phone' and used to 'manage sounds, images and information and enable long-distance communication'. Surely, it was another example of the Outside World magic.

His previous experience with the 'Game Boy' made him suspect that the small 'button' on the side would activate the plaque and one of the holes was used to power it. On the other hand, the strange object on its back perplexed him - could it be what allowed this 'long-distance communication'? If that was true, then how did it look? Something akin to telepathy? Maybe it opened a gap between two such 'phones', though without the ability to physically pass through it? Or it wasn't used for this purpose at all, instead being used to 'manage sounds and images'? On closer inspection, he also noticed another Outside object, a 'diode', which he already knew was used to provide (sometimes blinding) light, and a few smaller objects next to the big one and similar to it.

Next he tried to disassemble the plaque, taking off its back. He noticed another rectangular inside and promptly took it out, analyzing it. He learned it was called a 'battery' and was used to store power, meaning it was required for most Outside inventions to work. It was different than the one in the 'Game Boy', also possessing some description, fortunately in Japanese as well. There was something about a 'voltage' and the battery type, so it was possible that each Outside artifact needed its own 'battery' to function.

At that moment, he heard the doors open and turned in their direction, hiding the 'phone' under the counter. The only person he noticed was one of those fairies, the one living near the Misty Lake.

"Hey, Rinnosuke-san!" the girl shouted, flying right in front of him.

"Cirno. To what I owe your visit?" he said wearily. If fairies showed themselves to you on their own, it usually meant others were already doing something behind your back.

"Eye've got a biiig question for you!"

"Which would be?"

"Have you seen a green-haired Outsider around here lately?"

"The only green-haired person I saw was someone none of us would like to see." he grimaced - not many people enjoyed the flower youkai's company. "I could ask around, though. Why do you want to know?"

"He caused that explosion at the SDM! You know, the one Aya-san wrote about! Eye'm going to capture him" Cirno exclaimed.

"Did he, now? Hmm... What did he look like?" he asked curiously.

"He has this black hat and coat and yellow, snake-like eyes..."

Rinnosuke remembered seeing such a person, and not too long ago, at that. He was staring inside the shop, bud didn't enter. He also saw other fairies that day, those three led by the light-refracting one, but didn't mind them much. He told that to Cirno, who immediately excused herself and left as quickly as she came.

"Could she know something about this...?" he said to himself, shrugging after a moment and going back to examining the 'phone'.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/08 Japan, [District 1] -**

Relius looked at the various screens and displays in his laboratory. He remembered it clearly: the day the Black Beast sent him 80 years forward in time. Now, the lab stood semi-operational once again, and he knew by whose hand it was. Hazama is still alive, he thought.

Meanwhile, Carl and Litchi were busy preparing the equipment, mainly the tank which would be used to house the Prime Field and the seithr converter. The boy shivered at the sight of the miniature monolith used to seithrificate various animals they used as test subjects. Thinking about the tests gave him an idea.

"Litchi-san, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Carl. What is it?"

"Father said something about souls when you used the converter on those badgers... This would mean that theoretically all living entities have souls, right?"

"Souls of animals aren't like souls of sentient beings. They serve to store instincts, consciousness and memories, since animals don't possess personality or sense of self. They don't go to the Abyss of the Azure either, merely dissolving after enough time has passed." Relius answered on the Chinese woman's behalf. "As such, they are very useful test subjects for manipulating seithr."

"Wouldn't that contradict the theory of evolution?"

"Facts already contradict most theories and religions. Unless you want to say that by this logic sentient souls develop somewhere along the way?"

"It's just... Forget it, Father. We've got much work to do." Carl finished as he connected the tank to the converter. "Anyway, you said we need a DNA sample and sizable amounts of seithr. We've got the sample, but we'll have to harvest most seithr from wildlife."

"Correct. I've already sent Ignis to collect some. The crucial point, however, will be making the Prime Field grow a soul of its own."

"You've prepared the converter for this procedure, right? We don't need another incident like the one... when you created Nu..." Litchi said, a light shiver coming down her spine.

"That was when we used uncontrolled seithr compression. This time the circumstances and technology we will use are different."

"I hope you know what you're doing, or else we're all dead." the woman said with a tinge of fear in her voice.

Not a few minutes after the two finished assembling all the equipment did Ignis come back, carrying a large cage with a few foxes, heavily mutated by seithr and barely alive without the ambient fumes of the magic element in the air. Relius quickly set the cage by the black monolith and started chanting an Ars specifically for containment of seithr without it being rendered inert by the Lynchpin. Shūichirō was much smarter than he gave him credit for - it took him quite some time to prepare this Ars, otherwise the Prime Field would be already finished, trained and underway to the Abyss of the Azure. After making sure the enchantment he placed on the tank was stable, he started breaking the foxes down into more seithr and transfer it into the tank.

Looking at the procedure, Carl started to have doubts. Sure, they would create a Prime Field to find the Abyss and bring Lotte-san's soul, but what then? Were they supposed to throw it away like a tool that has fulfilled its purpose? Noel-senpai was, after all, a Prime Field as well, one that managed to gain a sense of self, learned how to actually _live_ as a human. Didn't her yet unborn sister deserve to be treated like a human as well, despite what Relius continued to say? He'd heard what happened at Ibukido, how Ragna tried to rescue Nu instead of killing her, though his father only said that the girl knew nothing but fights, pain and blood - anything different was bound to make her panic. She was mistreated like probably all Murakumo Units. That had to stop.

In a few minutes, Relius finished deconstructing the foxes and placed the resulting seithr inside the tank. The amount was still much too low for the procedure to begin, so he send Ignis to find more mutated specimens, while he went to inspect the Cauldron. Litchi, on the other hand, finished securing Arakune's tank in the corner and went to the blond boy.

"We're at the final stretch, Carl. Cheer up."

"I know, Litchi-san... It's just... Father will probably try to use the Prime Field as nothing more than a tool. We won't let that happen, right?"

"No, we won't. That man has harmed enough people."

"Hm... I'll never forgive him..." he said, gritting his teeth.

"He is a despicable man, but we can't focus on our hatred."

"Yes. We have to heal Lotte-san and rebuild Nee-san and Mother."

The two talked to each other while Yukari kept observing them. The seithr won't reach the Great Hakurei Barrier as long as the Lynchpin worked, but until then she had to destroy the Cauldron here. Of course, acting while the man was still here would be ill advised... Or she could just spread in Gensokyo a gossip about Hazama's partner showing up just outside the Barrier and wait until the Scarlets caught the wind of it. Two birds killed with one stone.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/18** **Gensokyo, Scarlet Devil Mansion -  
**

Kagura reached the mansion without problems, save for some fairies trying to attack him without warning. He noticed that the red-haired gatekeeper was on high alert, scanning the area for any intruders and saw him as he approached.

"Another Outsider?" she asked when he came close.

"Yeah, sort of. I'm looking one girl that came here. She wore a cream-colored uniform and had an eye on her hat. Her name's Tsubaki Yayoi."

"You're from the same organization, huh? No problem, she went-"

"Wait, Meiling-san!"

The two looked in the direction of the mansion, from which a certain gem-winged vampire came, along with a fairy maid carrying an umbrella to shield her from the sun. Kagura recognized her as the younger sister of Remilia Scarlet - a force to be reckoned with.

"W-w-what are y-you doing h-here, F-flan?" Meiling said, almost completely pale.

"Onee-sama allowed me to leave and hunt down that green guy!"

"J-just like that?!"

"I _had_ to pester her for the whole night, you know..."

"Green guy, huh..." Kagura said to himself, then continued aloud. "I suppose you're talking about Hazama."

"You know him?" Flandre asked, smiling creepily. "Then you must-"

"W-wait a second." he put his arms up. "There's only one guy who worked with Hazama, and his whereabouts are unknown. Trust me, nobody who knows the bastard has any love for him. Most want him dead, and so do I."

"In that case... Wait here for a minute!" she said, running back to the mansion.

"What's with her?" Kagura turned to Meiling.

"A very long story." she replied. "By the way, do you have any cure for seithr poisoning?"

"Depends on how severe it is."

"Unconsciousness, possibly hallucinations?"

"Then there's nothing we can do." Kagura shook his head. "I suppose it's Hazama's doing?"

"Yeah..." Meiling leaned against the wall, but quickly jerked back up as she saw Aya attempting to make a dynamic entry. "Hey, watch where you're flying!"

"Chill out, China." the tengu said as she landed. "And who do we have here? Jin's co-worker, maybe?"

"Something like that. Kagura Mutsuki, head of the Mutsuki family. And you are... from a newspaper, right? Bunbunmaru?"

"So you DO know!" Aya jumped in excitement. "See, China? I'm popular now!"

"Nothing new." Meiling rolled her eyes. "You are popular, but as a kindling provider."

"That's harsh." the tengu muttered in a quiet, saddened tone, but quickly returned to her chipper state. "Anyway, could I get an interview from you?" she turned back to Kagura.

"Actually, I'm somewhat busy right now..."

"Oh, don't be like that. It won't take long, I promise!" Aya clasped her hands together, but just a second later she noticed Flandre and the fairy coming back from the mansion. "Oh, I j-just remembered. I'm s-supposed do be elsewhere, so... See ya later!" she quickly said before taking off for Youkai Mountain.

"I'm back! Onee-san said that I can go with you, but you'll have to take good care of me!" she said with a mischievous smile.

"Never thought of anything else, miss... I didn't quite catch your name." Kagura met with a smile of his own.

"I'm Flandre Scarlet! Nice to meet you!"

"Kagura Mutsuki. The pleasure is all mine." he said, taking Flandre's hand and kissing her in a gentlemanly manner. "Now then... Meiling-san, right? You were saying Tsubaki went..."

"To the Human Village. Just make sure you don't bump into the miko, or we won't hear the end of it." the gatekeeper said. "Good luck on finding that snake. Oh, and one more thing..."

"Yes?"

"If you can, please visit Eientei. We need Yagokoro-san's aid now more than ever."

"I suppose it's about that seithr poisoning?"

"Mhm... Sakuya hasn't woken up since that night..." Flandre's expression saddened unexpectedly. "Please, Kagura-san, can we go to Eientei first?" she said, looking at the dark-haired man.

"I can't say no to those cute eyes. To the Bamboo Forest, then." he said and the three promptly walked away, Meiling observing them as they did. She didn't know exactly what Flandre told her older sister, but she thought it would be better if she didn't find out.

* * *

 _ **-**_ **Unknown -  
**

He opened his eyes to the bright, almost blinding sunlight. His first instinct was to check if his right arm was alright, but there was nothing out of ordinary. After a moment, he realized he didn't knew the reason behind this action. He knew there had to be some, but he couldn't figure out what could it be.

Then he looked around himself, noticing the immense black-red orb in the sky. It didn't seem like a natural formation, neither were there any beams supporting it. He knew it was an important object, but he didn't know why.

Then he looked at himself: a red jacket, a huge lump of metal that could pass for a sword, a strange pair of gloves... He knew those were important too, but he couldn't remember anything more about them.

Thinking about his current predicament, he realized that no matter what he tried to identify only made his mind draw a blank. He couldn't even remember-

"What's my name?"

* * *

 **\- EXCERPT FROM GENSOKYO CONTACT TEAM REPORTS -**

Name: Yuuka Kazami  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai  
Danger Level: Extremely High  
Aggression Level: Indeterminate (see Addendum)  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Unknown  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Red  
Hair: Green  
Weapon: Danmaku, martial arts, umbrella, magic, plants

Special Ability / Drive: Budding Four Seasons

Capable of manipulating all kinds of plant matter, even utilizing it in ways that are logically impossible.

Addendum: Because of the subject's highly teasing nature and dark sense of humor it is often hard to differentiate between what she considers to be jokes and what are actual threats, more so because they often imply total obliteration of the other party. The subject is known to otherwise treat humans with contempt, so caution is advised.

 _In other words: **stay the hell away from her.**_ _-Kokonoe_

Name: Rinnosuke Morichika  
Gender: Male _(_ _Finally, a proof that sentient youkai are not only girls! -Makoto)_  
Race: Half-youkai  
Danger Level: Very Low  
Aggression Level: None  
Occupation: Shopkeeper (owner of Kourindou)  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Unknown, probably Japan  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Golden  
Hair: Silver  
Weapon: Non-combatant

Special Ability: Eye for Principle

Capable of learning the name and purpose of an examined object. Contrary to the name, this ability does not give any knowledge required to properly operate the object nor about its inner workings.

Name: Shou Toramaru  
Gender: Female  
Race: Youkai (tiger)  
Danger Level: Low  
Aggression Level: Very Low  
Occupation: Avatar of Bishamonten _(As much as you can consider it an occupation... -Makoto)_  
Date of birth: Unknown  
Birthplace: Unknown  
Blood type: Unknown / N/A  
Eyes: Golden  
Hair: Orange-yellow with black stripes  
Weapon: Danmaku, Jeweled Pagoda of Bishamonten (see Drive)

Special Ability / Drive: Treasury of Vaiśravaṇa

Capable of accumulating large amounts of precious gems, as well as creating them using lasers fired from the Jeweled Pagoda. In order for this ability to work, the lasers must hit bare ground. A large amount of gems are required to use the Jeweled Pagoda, but are not consumed in the process.


	15. Chapter 15

I usually don't hate living in a student hostel, but when I do, it's because the Internet connection is out. :/ I had a few projects to catch up on after that, but I'm finally back to writing :).

Anyway, back to more Hazama this chapter, but not only that. For those of you wondering 'why is Relius still at it?' since the last chapter there's a little gift right below. As always, please read and review!

 **Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Touhou Project or BlazBlue** (besides this fic)

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/08 Japan, [District 1] -**

Relius lied down on a makeshift bed in what used to be his bedroom, now a place full of metal scraps and pieces of electronic junk. He tried to fall asleep, having not rested the last night, but he wasn't able to despite his exhaustion.

He considered himself to be a highly intelligent and practical person, rarely if at all fettered by such illogical things as emotions. However, even he sometimes fell victim to them. Usually, it was a thrill of excitement or curiosity when encountering a new challenge, but after the [Doomsday], he almost always felt despair lurking just behind him, waiting for any chance to rear its ugly head and assault his mind with images of his fall, speak about utter futility of his dreams. He tried to shut it away by working from dawn till dusk, but even then it caught up to him from time to time. Now, seeing the place where it all began once more, he felt his heart sink once again.

His hard work over the last few weeks certainly had paid off - the seithr converter was no more an idea, they had a working machine by now. They were about to even recover souls from the Abyss of the Azure, but those achievements didn't excite him as much as they would if it was his victory. True enough, those would be crucial for him as the Architect of the new, dynamic world, but Izanami was faster than him. Relius didn't hate her - he couldn't hate somebody for being intelligent enough to outwit him. Instead, he regretted listening to Terumi and letting her out in the first place. He should have known better that the Goddess of Death wasn't a toy, and yet he had treated her little better than he did all those souls around him. Souls that she intended to burn away in a new blaze of Azure. If Carl and Litchi haven't asserted control at that moment, he would have started to contemplate suicide. What else would be left for him? Trying to futilely try and salvage what was left of his plan? Even for him it would have been impossible - neither Sector Seven nor NOL would want to associate with him, and whatever favors he still owed wouldn't last long. Switching sides and fighting against Izanami? More than impossible - he would have been sentenced to death for war crimes, with Ikaruga as the prime exhibit, on the spot. Being forced to work for his son at least gave him purpose in what he believed to be last days of his life, and even that didn't ease his despair a bit, though he hid it well. He was supposed to free this world from its stagnancy, but Fates gave him the role of the one who would only bring about its end. Hopefully, he wouldn't live to see it.

Usually, Relius would have fallen asleep in at most half an hour, even if he was just as tired, but the dark emotions dwelling inside him were especially persistent. After an hour of futile attempts, he once again got up and went to look through the old logs once again, just to remember the times when everything went actually good. Booting up the computer in one of the side rooms, he saw a small piece of paper lying on the table beside the monitor. There was a short note written on it, in an old but simple cipher.

 _I'm still alive, Relius. Hurts like a bitch, but I'm still alive.  
_

"Hazama..." he muttered to himself in disbelief. Was the life-link he had with the 12th Unit strong enough to withstand Terumi's death by [Time Killer]? Those two were almost fused for the last fifteen years, so one's demise would mean the same for the other. And not only Hazama was alive, he somehow managed to get from Ibukido through Asia and all the way to Japan without being caught and in what Relius imagined to be excruciating pain.

That man never knew when to stop. Then again, neither did Terumi.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/18 Gensokyo, Bamboo Forest of the Lost -**

It didn't take long after entering the forest for Kagura learn that it truly deserved such a name. If it wasn't for that white-haired girl, Mokou, he and Flandre would have probably never got even close to Eientei - despite whatever Kokonoe managed to put into Kagura's communicator, the two wandered in circles until Mokou offered them help. Kagura was actually quite impressed - not only she knew her way around the misleading bamboo patches, she also didn't seem to fear the little girl of mass destruction. And to top it all off, she seemed to be single.

"Say, you didn't bump into a green-haired guy lately?" he asked, breaking the silence.

"Nope. What about him?" Mokou said, taking out another cigarette and lighting it.

"We've got a.. few questions for him. If you meet him, please tell us." he said. Flandre bared her fangs slightly at the mention of Hazama.

"No problem. I bet the young girl here is looking forward to it." Mokou said calmly, noticing the young vampire's reaction. "Speaking of questions, do you two know what happened at Scarlets?"

"Somebody blew up the clock tower for giggles." Flandre said.

"That's all? It's always something deeper with those guys. Maybe it was that amanojaku?"

"Who?" the two travelers asked in unison.

"The one behind the youkai uprising last autumn. She tends to attack people like that."

Kagura started to think about the possibility - Hazama was only a distraction for the real bomber, but if such a youkai ended up contacting him, then the two could actually turn the whole Gensokyo on its head.

"Is she dangerous?"

"Not on her own. She gets creative with her power, though." Mokou continued. "And tends to cheat in battle."

"What's her power?" Flandre asked.

"Inverting things. She can invert your movements, perception, anything."

'Turn Gensokyo on its head', indeed, Kagura thought. "Would she get accomplices?"

"Rarely. And even if, then she would trick them into helping. Amanojaku can't make friends, that's their nature. Contrarians and all."

"Those two would get along just fine." he muttered to himself. Hazama and Terumi were just the same, only human. Well, almost.

"You said something?" the white-haired girl asked.

"Nah, I'm just admiring your beautiful hair." Kagura said with a wry smile. Might as well go with it.

"Sorry, I'm not interested."

"...Straight to the point." he groaned, deflating a little. Flandre suppressed a chuckle, while Mokou only shrugged and continued to walk forward, the other two following shortly after. The rest of the trip was mostly uneventful, though the young vampire expressed a strong desire to take one of the rabbits when the three passed by a group of them pounding mochi, which forced Kagura to remind her of the reason for their visit to Eientei. When they were nearing the mansion, he saw that one of the rabbits flew immediately after noticing Flandre, which wouldn't be weird if the rest of the rabbits didn't simply avoid locking their gazes with her. He didn't have much time to think about it as they entered Eientei a few seconds later, with Mokou deciding to wait outside.

* * *

 **\- Near the Hakurei Shrine -  
**

After making a quick trip back home to collect a few Spell Cards, Cirno headed towards the new residence of the fairy trio. It was somewhere near the shrine, although she didn't know where exactly. It didn't take long before sounds of drunken chatter directed her to the place and, upon her arrival, the ice fairy saw numerous bottles of alcoholic beverages lying outside the small house - sans the contents. Without much thinking, Cirno barged inside, but to her surprise, nobody approached her. The sounds of partying didn't stop for a single moment, which she took as a good sign and moved onwards, hiding around the corners and trying to hear enough information to find Hazama. Finally, she decided to hide in a wardrobe just outside the living room.

"...but the next time, we'll win for sure!" Sunny shouted enthusiastically, a sound of something clattering against glass accompanying her.

"But we need to be faster than him." Star spoke rather loudly.

"So we'll train harder! Even an Outsider like him will know how strong the Three Fairies of Light are!"

"Yeah!" Star and Luna shouted in agreement, the clattering sounding again. They seem to have a drink with ice, Cirno thought.

After presumably emptying their glasses, Luna continued, "Still, the way how he dealt with Lunatic Rain was a cheat."

"What else did you expect? Outsiders aren't bound by Spell Card rules unless they get a house in the Human Village." Star said, unwittingly reminding the eavesdropping ice fairy of the fact. "More whisky?"

"Yes, thank you." the blond said. "But a cheat is still a cheat."

"At least he wasn't like that amanojaku." Sunny said. "She even switched our positions that time!"

"Yeah, that was underhanded. But we made her run away in the end." Star added.

"Of course! Youkai like her don't stand a chance!" the redhead shouted cheerfully. "She could, like, stand on her head and she still wouldn't be on our level!" she joked, making the three laugh in unison. Cirno would have laughed as well, but this would blow her cover, so she only let out a light chuckle.

"By the way," Luna started, "did you see the latest Bunbunmaru?"

"No, what about it?"

"They think that a maid from inside rebelled."

"Wait, you're serious?" Star said. "They didn't figure out?"

"Well, nobody saw us. How _would_ they figure out?"

"You're right. What about that guy though?" Star asked, which made Cirno listen more closely - they must have been speaking about Hazama.

"I've heard somebody saw him in the Bamboo Forest walking with a woman." Luna said. "They said he was limping."

"So he had to break out of there. I wonder who did that to him."

"Probably the head maid. We're lucky we didn't bump into her." Sunny said, sighing heavily after a pause. "This whisky is great! We should try going to the Outside and grab some more!"

"We'd need to leave Gensokyo first, and that's not happening." Luna said flatly.

"Don't be so negative, Luna..." Star said quietly. "So, what do we do about him?"

"He said he'd be hard to catch, so we'll just wait and see. If he doesn't show up, we'll break out his share of wine." Sunny said in a dismissive tone. "We can't all of that go to waste, right?"

Deciding that she heard enough, Cirno quietly left the wardrobe and sneaked out of the house, trying her hardest not to be heard now since it would completely defeat the point of her sneaking inside in the first place. As she closed the door, the ice fairy accidentally bumped an empty wine bottle with one of her wing icicles, knocking it on the floor and breaking it. Not wanting to see what can happen next, she flew away from the house at top speed. The three fairies, however, didn't even notice the noise over the sound of their laughter.

* * *

 **\- 129/05/18 Gensokyo, Human Village -**

The search didn't give Tsubaki much help - while somebody did guard the village from any... less civil youkai, they didn't seem to notice Hazama entering or exiting, which made her question the guards' competence. As she had already contacted a person from Eientei, she saw no further reason to go there. Instead, she decided to go and get Makoto; when she reached the house, however, there was nobody inside, so she left and started plotting the next course of action. She could either try and contact the squirrel beastkin to reorganize their movements, but this would require going to the Myouren Temple since mobile phones didn't work in Gensokyo. The alternative would be to continue searching the town for any signs of Hazama - with luck, she would be able to find someone who interacted with him.

After a few minutes of pondering those possibilities Tsubaki decided to check out other places Hazama would probably be interested in, like the library - if it possessed information about Gensokyo, then he'd surely show up there sooner or later. On her way there, she noticed a woman wearing a long scarf and a leaf-shaped hair clip. Makoto said that people with strange hair accessories were important in this world regardless of their general look, so the redhead decided to approach the woman.

"Excuse me, have you seen a green-haired person wearing a black coat and a matching hat?" she asked.

"No, I haven't seen anybody like that." the woman responded.

"He might be trying to disguise himself."

"Disguising?... Hmm, it might be possible that I saw such a person lately..." she said in a slightly teasing tone.

"Could you tell me when and where was that?" Tsubaki pressed.

"A few hours ago, in Suzunaan. You might find him there if you move swiftly."

"Thank you very much." the redhead said, about to run off in the direction of the library, but the other woman stopped her.

"If you meet the librarian, please tell her that Futatsuiwa Mamizou would like to have a word with her."

"...I will." Tsubaki said, running off. The disguised tanuki continued to look at her curiously. A lot must have happened in the Outside for such people to run around. It would be for the best to find out, and from more reliable sources than the tengu 'newspaper'.

* * *

Hazama tried hard to figure out what the demon book was supposed to contain; his Grimoire reacted strongly to its energy, but couldn't steal even a piece. All he figured out was that the grammar wasn't random, but bore signs of being used in a phonetic language. He tried to do a magical analysis despite his lack of skill in that field, so he turned off his disguise and started to prepare a translation spell. He couldn't even dream of translating the whole book, but the first sentence would suffice for the moment.

He only managed to copy the sentence on a piece of paper when he heard somebody enter the library. Not only he figured out it was a woman - he recognized the characteristic, steady clattering of heels of a Wing of Justice on the floor.

"First those two, now First Lieutenant Garbage?" he muttered to himself. The situation was looking bleak - he couldn't apply the disguising or hiding Ars without her noticing, neither he could teleport himself out or run out through the back door, not that there were any. He could either fight her head-on or try to hide in the shadows... or simply wait for her to leave.

The first - and only - thing Tsubaki noticed in the library's dark interior was a little girl, sitting by her desk and reading a book...with her finger? The irony of a blind librarian was not lost on the redhead given the price of using Izayoi, but she quickly noticed that the girl actually could see, since she started walking towards the potential client.

"Welcome to Suzunaan. My name is Motoori Kosuzu. How may I help you?"

"Did you recently have any guests with odd requests? They might be a criminal on the run." Tsubaki asked.

"I did have one... He should be still inside. Please, follow me." Kosuzu said, taking a candle and gesturing to the woman to follow.

Hazama listened to the conversation with anger. Attacking an unarmed child would earn him ire of almost anybody in Gensokyo, and he already managed to learn that there was at least one person who can kill anybody short of Hourai immortals like that Kagyua girl with nothing more than a thought. He either had to evade the First Lieutanant Garbage or completely destroy her, which could prove _very_ problematic now that she had access to the Zero-Type. He left the demon book and some hastily-made notes on the desk and hid behind one of the tall bookshelves in the area.

"Strange, he should still be here... Did he hear us?" Kosuzu said to Tsubaki when she noticed the empty desk.

"It's possible...Look around, he must be hiding somewhere." she said, taking out Izayoi's quill-blade and a flashlight, slowly moving around the bookshelves. Seeing the light drawing near, Hazama readied himself to shoot Ouroboros in the redhead's face and just run, but suddenly something fell on the floor a few meters away, turning Tsubaki's attention to that area.

"I'll check that. Guard the entryway, Motoori-san. We can't let him slip away." the woman said as she slowly moved towards the source of the sound, which was behind another bookcase. The girl quietly went to the folding door, blocking it completely. Hazama could try to take out her candle, but this would tip them off about his position. He had to be very careful - the only way he could get out of this without a fight would be to let them believe he was already out of the room.

Tsubaki was somewhat annoyed to discover that the sound was let out by a book that has fallen on the floor. She went back to checking the first bookcase, but unbeknown to her Hazama had already managed to sneak away from the other side and behind the desk, then behind the bookcase Tsubaki had checked moments ago. Luckily for him, the librarian's candle didn't give off enough light to illuminate the far corners of the room, or else he would have been found out. When the redhead saw nothing behind the first bookcase, she knew something was up. She went back to Kosuzu and gestured for her to go to the second bookcase from the side closer to the entrance while herself going from the other side. Hazama saw as well, taking the opportunity to once again switch his position and, when the girls tried to 'ambush' him, leave the room entirely.

"Where'd he go?" Tsubaki sighed in exasperation. He hadn't used any Ars, she would have detected that.

"Maybe he wasn't here when we came?" Kosuzu suggested, making the redhead frown.

"I don't think so. He would have to pass by us on the way out. Besides, look at the state of those notes." she said as she walked towards the desk. "Whatever he was writing here was finished mid-sentence, quite sloppily at that. He left this book here, even though it's evident he wanted to study it thoroughly. He must have not heard us until we were close, or else he would have collected all of it."

"How do you know?"

"He worked in espionage before and tends to gather as much information as possible." Tsubaki shook her head. "It doesn't matter now. He probably managed to escape already."

* * *

 **\- Myouren Temple -**

"So basically Izanami-no-Mikoto somehow got out of Yomi and is trying to kill the world, and this Ragna guy is her key weapon." Reimu repeated after listening to Makoto's quick explanation.

"More or less." the squirrel confirmed. Shou had an unreadable expression, while Ran continued to be as stoic as possible.

"Great. As if we didn't have enough problems." the miko folded her arms, then turned to the kitsune. "Why didn't Yukari tell me anything about this?"

"You know her, Reimu. If she didn't tell either of us, she wouldn't bother to explain it to anybody. Only Yuyuko-san would be able to figure it out, I suppose."

"Tch. Some help she would be. And where does this Hazama fit in here, again?"

"He was something of a body double for an equally wretched man, Yūki Terumi. He, along with his partner, Relius Clover, released Izanami and put her into a physical vessel, that is, Ragna's younger sister, Saya. They tried to use her, but the situation was turned around during the [Doomsday] - Terumi has been killed and Relius completely disappeared. Hazama was considered MIA, but..."

"Is perfectly alive and still tries to cause chaos." Reimu sighed. "Some people won't stay dead... or sealed for that matter." she continued, looking at the tiger. "A penny for your thoughts, Shou?"

"...We can't do much from Gensokyo if we want to fight Izanami, and even then, we would need somebody capable of fighting gods." she said, then turned to Makoto. "You've got one, but we don't have anybody who can fight on such level and not cause widespread damage. On a side note, it is curious how much you say she wants to keep Ragna around, even considering his importance to her..."

"Yeah, that is off... I mean, she's possessing Saya, so maybe the girl's feelings are rubbing off on Izanami..." the squirrel beastkin said.

"Or maybe a Black Beast can either end the world or throw her back to Yomi, depending on how its power is used." Ran said, making Reimu tilt her head to the side in response.

"How can a youkai kill a goddess? Seriously..."

"Black Beast wasn't exactly a youkai, more like a mindless soul-devouring...thing..." Makoto said.

"Just like Saigyou Ayakashi." Reimu added. "But that's beside the point, anyway. How would it kill Izanami?"

"That we don't know. All that's certain is that the Beast is related to the Boundary... Besides, Izanami caused Ragna's [Azure Grimoire] to go berserk in the first place, so..."

"So no matter which of this is true, we need to find him first." the miko summed up, with everybody nodding in response.

"Thanks for the help. I gotta go now, though. Tsubaki will need to hear this. See ya later!" Makoto finished, leaving the three Gensokyo residents inside the temple. Shou looked around and, after a moment of silence, cleared her throat loudly, getting the attention of the other two.

"Now that we cleared that up, let's go back to your request, Ran. Before Nazrin starts to search for Ragna, we need to know his approximate area." she said.

"That will be a bit complicated. Firstly, it's in the Outside, far beyond the Great Barrier. Secondly, we only know where he did disappear _from_."

"That doesn't say much... In that case, I shall instruct Nazrin to check there at the moment."

"I'll leave you two to your plotting, then." the miko said, also going for the exit, but stopping right before it. "Oh, and Ran, could you tell Yukari to be less secretive about such things?"

"I'll see what I can do, but no promises." the fox replied, making Reimu leave the building.

* * *

 **\- 2200/03/08 4th Hierarchical City [Naobi], Sector 7 laboratory -**

Kokonoe went down the stairs to the medical ward, hoping that the recovered Prime Field finally healed enough to become a field operative. Although she wouldn't admit it, the scientist felt heavy guilt over what she did back when Lambda was first brought from [Ibukido] by Tager, and every time she went do the blond girl's room she felt the emotion resurface at the back of her mind. She only hoped that the Prime Field would forgive her one day. With the mission she was about to give her, though, it could be even harder.

Entering the room, Kokonoe noticed the girl doing various exercises that allowed her to retain her flexibility.

"Professor." Lambda said, pausing her workout when she saw the cat scientist enter.

"Looks like you're doing well enough." she said, looking at the charts that measured various parameters of the Prime Field's physical and mental state.

"Well enough for what?" the girl said with a tinge of curiosity.

"Shit has finally hit the fan at Ibukido and we're out of operatives. You'll be doing some black-ops work."

"Ibukido... Will I be going back there, Professor?"

"I'll tell you everything at the briefing in half an hour, but if you really want to know, you'll be going to Kagutsuchi." Kokonoe said as Lambda manifested what they called her 'civilian' clothes.

"Understood." the girl said as she reached for a notebook, writing something in it. She went to tidying the room up after that, giving the scientist a subtle cue to leave her alone for a moment, which made Kokonoe leave the room.

As she went back to her lab, she started to think once again about the events at [Ibukido]. It was impossible for Ragna's soul to disappear like that - the Embryo was too stable for something like that to happen, even when it was containing the Black Beast. Izanami wouldn't let him run away, so she must have hid him away. And there was not a single place harder to move around in than the Embryo. The only problem lied with the way that kitsune lost direct contact with Ragna - the programming was flawless, she checked that herself, and yet... There was no doubt that Nine, or as she was called now, Phantom was involved with it. Kokonoe hated to admit it, but Litchi's help would be invaluable, even more if she had succeeded in bringing Relius under control as the NOL thought.

Entering her room, the cat scientist saw none other than Yukari, sitting nonchalantly on one of her gaps and reading a grimoire from Library's vast store. Seeing the former enter, the youkai quickly closed it and threw it inside the gap.

"Care to explain why are you in my lab just like that?" Kokonoe asked.

"No particular reason. I thought it would be nice to come and say hi." Yukari said with a mischievous smile.

"Are you even trying?... Whatever, I don't give a shit anymore. Ran told you about Ragna?"

"Yes, and I believe we had come to the similar conclusion." the youkai folded her hands as if she was a morally challenged leader of a paramilitary agency. "Izanami has finally made her move."

"Yeah, but something is still weird about it. Why would she do something like that?" the scientist said, sitting in her chair and taking a sip of still warm coffee. One of the very few things she admitted to herself freely she missed about Roy was his coffee - it had flavor, not like that piss she had to drink afterwards.

"True. It shouldn't be possible for Ran to lose contact with his soul so abruptly, even if magic was a factor and Izanami had noticed. If I'm not mistaken, she would've appeared to gloat."

"And taunt everybody around... But this doesn't make sense... Izanami know we're sitting ducks even though we contacted Ragna, so why did she pull of something like that?"

"Maybe we have yet another party in play?" Yukari said, winking towards Kokonoe.

"And who do you suggest is this 'another party'?"

"I don't really know. Just a hunch." the youkai shrugged, making Kokonoe roll her eyes in exasperation.

"If you have time to say shit like this, then maybe you know what happened to Jin?"

"Oh? He desired to return to Gensokyo and apprehend Hazama. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, for love of..." the scientist felt a strong urge to slam her head on the desk. "At least give him the damn comm, will you?"

"Not a problem. I shall be on my way then." Yukari said, falling backwards into her gap, which closed after a short moment, leaving Kokonoe with an idea. Could it be Nine who took actions against Izanami?

* * *

 **\- Human Village -**

Hazama, having left the Suzunaan far behind, quickly reapplied his disguise and went towards the gates to leave the village, but was abruptly stopped when a blond witch appeared out of nowhere, flying on her broom right in front of him.

"Not so fast, snake-man! You won't be running away on my watch, ze!"

"Oh, give me a break..." he muttered angrily to himself, dispelling the Ars. "I don't know what's your beef and honestly, I couldn't care less, so do yourself a favor and get the hell out of my way."

"Sorry, but I'm all out of 'get out of your way free' cards for today." the witch said with a defiant grin, which only aggravated Hazama further.

"You're just _asking_ for a beatdown, huh?" he said, not even bothering with his usual public mannerisms. "Good, I was running out of punching bags anyway."

 **BGM: Gluttony Fang**

Hazama immediately shot Ouroboros at Marisa, who quickly flew upwards; he anticipated such movement, quickly retracting the chain and firing another directly at her. This time he hit her and teleported right behind her, unleashing a flurry of knife slashes and finishing with an aerial axe kick, throwing the girl to the ground. He prepared his snake spirit imitations for the moment she got up, but she fired a few star-shaped danmaku at him, forcing Hazama to sidestep and lose his focus. This allowed Marisa to safely jump away from the green-haired man.

"No one makes a punching bag out of Kirisame Marisa!" she loudly exclaimed, getting on her broom and ramming into Hazama at full speed, throwing him into a nearby building while she gracefully landed on the ground. He rolled towards her and slashed her with his knife across the ankle, making the witch fall on one knee. He then got up and tried to follow up by kicking her face, but Marisa struck him in the stomach with the handle of her broom. Before he recovered, she fired a quick magical laser which would have fried Hazama's right arm if he didn't reflect most of the energy by a hastily-cast Ars. What did got through was enough to give him second-degree burns.

"Note to self: prepare Ars in advance." he muttered, firing Ouroboros a little above Marisa. He didn't fling himself at her immediately, instead waiting for a few seconds so that another laser, which she fired at the anchoring point, would die off. He then flung himself at her, making a downward slash as he flew over her, though the witch avoided the attack and retaliated with a small burst of danmaku. Hazama pulled himself back to the ground, though one of the bullets grazed his burnt arm, sending an unpleasant, paralyzing sting all over his body and making him shudder involuntarily. Marisa didn't let the opportunity for a stronger attack slip, bringing out a small, hexagonal item and casting a short spell while pointing the item's front face at her green-haired opponent.

"Master Spark!" she shouted, unleashing a large, rainbow-colored laser from the hexagon, completely enveloping Hazama in its light. If it wasn't for his life-link and Grimoire's regenerative abilities, he would have been killed on the spot; instead, he just lied on the ground heavily panting, his skin and most of his clothes badly burned.

"Didn't expect it to pack this punch outside the Spell Card rules, ze." Marisa said to herself, noticing that the green-haired man was barely alive. She started to go in his direction, but went back into a battle stance when she saw him slowly get up. As he did so, Hazama noticed that a small crowd started to gather.

"So much for subtlety..." he muttered to himself, using an Ars to restore his clothes and save his dignity, then continued aloud to Marisa. "I don't want to involve those people, so we'd better get outside with this."

"Like I'll believe you, ze!" she retorted, dashing in Hazama's direction but stopping a few meters in front of him, shooting a few green bullets which he effortlessly parried. "Don't think you can run away from me!"

"I gave you a choice. Blame yourself if it bites you in the ass. Eternal Coils of the Dragon Serpent!" he said darkly, conjuring a binding Ars from below Marisa, reeling her in with Ouroboros a second later and unleashing a flurry of vicious slashes all across her body. "Not feeling so cocky now, huh?!" he shouted as he slammed her with a few snake spirits.

"I've fought with a nuclear hell raven before." Marisa said as she got up, bloodied but still grinning. "That's a few leagues above you." she taunted him, jumping back on her broom and flying straight at Hazama. He dodged, but the witch threw a few sealed jars, which exploded on impact with the ground. Thankfully for him, the standard barrier Ars was enough to block them, but not enough to block another tackle as Marisa made a quick U-turn and rammed him again. This time, though, he recovered in air and fired Ouroboros at her, pulling her off her broom and towards himself, where he slashed her a few times and finished by throwing her to the ground before falling. Even despite the accumulating wounds Marisa continued to stand up and taunt him, which only served to anger Hazama even more than his own injuries did.

"I tried to be nice, you little bitch, but you obviously want to die." he snarled, untying his black tie and taking off his fedora, making his hair spike up. To hell with this, he thought, might at least have some real fun. He held one of his butterfly knives right in front of him as numerous green magical circles slowly appeared around him on the ground, circling around the point Hazama was standing on. "Restriction 666 released, Dimensional Interference Field deployed."

"What're ya cooking up now, ze?"

"Now... you're about to witness the _true power of the Azure!_ Code S.O.L., [Blazblue], activate!" he shouted, momentarily enveloping himself in numerous snake-shaped clouds of dark green energy which quickly shot upwards. The display shocked Marisa, making her drop the gutsy attitude for a moment and allowing a tinge of fear to show - after all, this _was_ the guy who had defeated Flandre in a direct, physical fight. Noticing it in her eyes, Hazama burst in a fit of insane laughter, scaring the crowd away.

"Ghyahahahahahaha! A hell raven, huh? I'm gonna show you what Hell really is!"


	16. Chapter 16

Whew, posting this chapter took _way_ longer than it was supposed to. Even the boss for Centralfiction Act II has been released in the meantime...

Still, after the end-of-the-semester exams had got out of the way, I managed to get some free time (for a week...) and now I'll have to go back to studying. That being said, I'll probably shift my priority for some time - I've started making another BlazBlue crossover. For now, enjoy this chapter and please leave a review when you do!

*looks at the arcade spoliers* DAMN YOU, MORI

 **Disclaimer: Terumi's hair is a lawn. Your argument is invalid.**

* * *

 **-** ** **129/05/18 Gensokyo,** Garden of the Sun -**

"There, you should see the village now." Yuuka said, pointing her parasol forwards and parting the sunflowers, allowing us to see the village walls just a few kilometers away.

"Thank you. I shall be on my way now." I said, but the flower youkai placed her hand on my shoulder, momentarily stopping me.

"Actually, I was thinking about visiting it now. The florists must have got the freshest batch of seedlings by now." she said, which almost made me roll my eyes. _Yeah, right. That's just an excuse for you to follow me, isn't it?_ I chose to not object, though - in the worst situation I could deny everything. However, Tsubaki would get suspicious...

"Tch... But do not follow me once we're inside." I said. Suddenly, I saw a large cloud of energy shoot up in the village. It wasn't clear at first, but when it seemed to gleam in a sickly green color, I recognized it as Hazama's [Azure Grimoire]. Yuuka seemed to notice it as well, since she made her trademark smile.

"This seems to have made your request moot, no?" she said in a teasing tone, rising in the air and gesturing for me to do the same, which I didn't hesitate to do, and the two of us flew towards the village as fast as we could.

* * *

 **\- Human Village -**

"Hmm... Seems I overdid this one a little...Oh well, got to make this quick and dirty." Hazama said to himself, looking upwards at the still-dissolving cloud of Azure energy, then turning his snake-like gaze at Marisa. "So... what should I do with you?..."

"That's what we call 'compensating'." she taunted, trying to keep up her grin. He knew it was forced, but it still infuriated him.

"Did I allow you to comment? I don't think so!" he shouted, running to her and throwing her in the air with a sweeping slash, empowered by one of Azure snakes. He continued by firing Ouroboros at her a few times, pulling her down the last time and slamming her on the ground, finishing with Eternal Coils once more.

"O-okay... m-maybe I rushed it... a b-bit..." Marisa murmured as she tried to get up, but Hazama was faster, stomping on her head once and grinding it into the ground, making her hat roll a few centimeters away.

"I. Didn't. Hear you~!"

"Then m-maybe.. you sh-should.. get off my head!" she shouted, quickly taking a magical bomb from under her hat and throwing it right at Hazama's face. He didn't manage to block it and it blew up, throwing him a few steps away and allowing her to stand up, albeit barely and in pain. He tried to attack her once the dust cleared away, but she managed to shoot another small laser to keep him away as she frantically searched her hat for one of Eirin's healing potions. She knew Hazama was too powerful for her - her attitude was just to aggravate him into making mistakes. Instead, she decided to stall for time. Somebody must have seen that burst of energy, after all. Just as he was about to fire Ouroboros again, the witch took out a small vial and drank its contents in a single gulp, shuddering heavily afterwards. He waited for a moment in case it was a trap of some sort, but frowned as her wounds started to visibly heal.

"That hit the spot, ze!" Marisa said, once again grinning. "So, which one it will be? Heaven or Hell?"

"...Okay, you're not _completely_ pathetic, I'll give you that." Hazama said, fiddling with one of his butterfly knives. "Still nowhere near _my_ level, but it just makes the whole game more fun." He pocketed his knife and started walking towards her, once again grinning insanely. The witch decided to not take any more chances and took out a Spell Card.

"Armillary [Orreries Universe]!"

The moment she declared her card, six orbs started orbiting around Marisa as she started flying just a few meters above ground. The orbs alternated between spewing star-shaped danmaku and shooting lasers, forcing Hazama to run around and throwing knives at the witch. Strangely enough, they didn't seem to work much as Marisa continued to grin while spreading around more magical bullets.

"That's how you want to play? Be my guest then..." he said, blocking continuously growing amounts of danmaku. Just after the orbs stopped firing another volley of lasers, Hazama jumped at the witch and tried to bring her down with an Azure-empowered axe kick. It wasn't enough, but the blast of energy shattered two of Marisa's orbs and almost broke her Spell Card, surprising Marisa since not many people attacked Spell Cards themselves instead of their users. Repositioning the orbs, she managed to land a hit on Hazama, paralyzing him for a moment, then burning him with a laser across his back, yet it didn't faze him much as he repeated the attack, this time violently throwing Marisa to the ground, breaking her arm in addition to the Spell Card.

As the witch started to get up, Hazama once again walked nonchalantly towards her, this time twirling a tiny Ouroboros around his finger. An obvious bait, but Marisa knew she had to take it or suffer a sudden - and very possibly fatal in her current state - attack. Pulling the Mini-Hakkero out would alert him, so she quickly slammed Hazama with her broom once he came close enough and, to her surprise, he disappeared, only to reappear above her and wrap Ouroboros around her so tightly that her ribs almost snapped. Releasing his hold on the witch after a few seconds and letting her drop to the ground once more, Hazama stomped on her head and stomach a few more times, laughing maniacally as he did so, then kicked her away and made her slam against a wall.

"C'mon! I'm waiting for you to _suck less_!" he taunted Marisa, who slowly managed to stand up despite the accumulating wounds. The remark made her grind her teeth in anger - somebody was trash-talking the Ordinary Witch of Gensokyo? She couldn't let that one slide.

"Kh... D-don't blame me for adjusting to your level!" she snapped back, which made Hazama shut up for a moment and look at her with utter hatred. Should've just let that slide, she thought.

"...I will _so_ enjoy skinning you alive, you little bitch." he said, pulling out his knives and running towards Marisa, quickly starting a flurry of slashes that the witch only barely blocked with a magical barrier. Noticing that, Hazama tripped her and started stomping on her head like a jackhammer, finishing after a few seconds with a roundhouse kick enveloped in Grimoire's energy, once again slamming her into some stall, this time with enough force to bring it down.

"Ow-ow-ow... I'm s-seeing double..." Marisa murmured quietly, trying to get up as Hazama slowly approached her, holding one of his butterfly knives and sporting a psychotic grin.

"I can help you with that..." he he said in an eerily calm tone, pulling her up by her collar and pointing the knife right at her eye, making all the color drain from the witch's face. "Scared, huh? Well, it's about damn time! Do you know how annoying little shits like you are? You all talk like 'You'll never do this' or 'I'll never forgive you!' Seriously, what the hell? Do you even _hear_ yourself? What is it with girls trying to be heroines? 'Hurr durr, look at me, I'm a clueless dumb girl and I do shit for justice'!" he said sarcastically. "Guess what, it's reality, not some kind of shounen anime." At that point, Hazama's Grimoire alerted him of an immensely powerful youkai coming straight towards the village, stronger even that the young vampire he battled in the dungeons of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and another two already, with one probably being the disguised youkai he saw a few days ago snooping around the area and the second, strangely, waiting in one place. He decided to make it quick - there was no point to sadism if it would've got you killed or worse - and started to pump seithr into Marisa, who immediately lost consciousness and fell limply to the remains of the stall, breaking the few still-standing wooden beams.

"Say hello to the maid for me." he quickly said, deactivating his Grimoire and applying both a disguising and a disappearance Ars to escape the village relatively unnoticed.

* * *

The shouts of villagers directed me and Yuuka towards the place where Hazama was fighting, and to our surprise, we saw Reisen kneeling near what looked like a broken-down market stall, and after nearing further, saw Marisa, lying in the rubble and bleeding.

"Ara, what must have happened here?..." the flower youkai said with a serene smile, in turn visibly unnerving the rabbit.

"This isn't time for jokes, Yuuka-san." she said, then turned to me. "Looks like the one who defeated the witch was the same man you're looking for, Kisaragi-san."

"It certainly seems so..." I said, angry that Hazama managed to slip away, then turned to take a look at the witch's wounds. It looked like she got beaten up thoroughly: a broken left arm, bruised sides, numerous cuts, heavily bruised head and a broken nose. Her breathing was fast and labored and her eyes bloodshot, suggesting some level of seithr poisoning, though not nearly as severe as the Scarlet Devil Mansion's head maid. _This is going to be a long day..._

"Maybe you saw where he went, Reisen?" Yuuka continued.

"He used some kind of disguising spell, so it's hard to say, though he turned towards the mountain before that." _Youkai Mountain?... Why'd he go there?_

"Thank you. We should be-"

"Hold on." I interrupted Yuuka. "The witch still needs treatment. I don't really care if you go after him right now or later, but we don't need any more combatants being crippled. Reisen-san, could you take her to our house?"

"Of course. I will help to the best of my abilities." the rabbit said, running off to her stall.

"Well, it was very... worthwhile being your acquaintance, Jin Kisaragi." Yuuka said with her trademark smile.

"Don't think it will become a routine." I said, annoyed by her casual tone.

"Fufufu... Who knows what will happen? I certainly do look forward to trading blows with you once more." the youkai giggled lightly and turned towards the village gate closest to the mountain.

"...Tch." _Just like the Mad Dog..._

A minute later, Reisen came back with a stretcher. We cleared up the place and got Marisa back to the small house I rented with Makoto, meeting with Tsubaki on the way. We lied the witch down on a free futon while Reisen started to prepare band-aids. _  
_

"If I only got him there..." Tsubaki sighed.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"I've almost had Hazama cornered in the library and he somehow ran away." she said, describing the situation in Suzunaan afterwards.

 _That wasn't a big room, and that bastard still escaped. Something's fishy...  
_

"So he was in the village all along?" Reisen asked. "That's strange... Shouldn't he have hid somewhere like Bamboo Forest or at the Kappa Village?"

"Who knows... Anyway, Jin-nii-sama, you said he went towards the Youkai Mountain?" Tsubaki asked.

"Yes. Another youkai is pursuing him at the moment."

"Do you think they will make it?"

"Oh, they will." Reisen said as she started to put the band-aids on Marisa's lacerations. "She's the strongest in terms of physical fighting in whole Gensokyo."

"If you say so... In that case, we'll have to get the shrine maiden and-"

"Did somebody call?" We were surprised to see both Makoto and Reimu have entered at that moment. "And what the heck has happened at the... Marisa!" the miko shouted, running to her unconscious friend in easily noticeable worry.

"We ran as fast as we could when we saw the snakes, but it seems it wasn't fast enough to get him..." Makoto said, then went to look at Marisa's wounds as well. "Great, seithr poisoning. It's mild, so she'll recover if treated," she said to Reimu to calm her down, "but it can take a month or so."

"And if untreated?"

"Then she might lose her ability to use magic. Her mental and physical health will decline as well." I said, causing Reimu to tighten her grip on her gohei in anger, though she remained silent.

"If that's what happens to humans, then what would happen to youkai?" Reisen asked.

"Frankly, we have no idea." Makoto shrugged. "NOL never before made contact with any."

"Wonder what shishō would say..." the rabbit mused, but quickly turned her attention back to Marisa, who started to wake up.

"Hnngg... I feel like Suika stomped on me..."

"Don't get up so quickly, Marisa." said Reimu when the witch sat up, supporting herself on her arms. "Reisen, can I ask you for a favor?" she asked, standing up and leaning on the wall beside the window, near me and Tsubaki.

"No problem. What is it?"

"If you happen to go to Moriya Shrine anytime soon, tell Sanae that we need to talk."

"Never thought that the Hakurei shrine maiden would ever ask for help with anything, ze." Marisa said, awake just enough to regain her snark and earning herself a finger poke from Reimu.

"You stay here for now. Whatever Hazama did to you won't heal easily, so I'll have Kourin look after you."

"Hey, not fair! A few pots of mushroom stew and I'll be up and running in no time!" the witch tried to argue, but Makoto spoke up.

"Reimu's right, you know. Even outside of Gensokyo, seithr poisoning is very-"

"Wait, could you repeat that one?" Marisa interrupted, frowning.

"Seithr poisoning."

"...Well, damn. Didn't think it occurred outside of magical accidents."

"You've encountered seithr before?" I asked. _Curious... Seithr here in Gensokyo?...  
_

"A few times, but it didn't do much... Ow, he got me really good there, ze..."

"About that..." Reimu started as she folded her arms. "What did you think, just rushing into battle with Hazama like that?!" _Could you not shout in my ear?_

"Wait, what do you..."

"That guy defeated _Flandre friggin' Scarlet_ in a straight up physical fight, in case you forgot! Did it even occur to you that he could do the same or worse to you?!"

"H-hey, Reimu... Calm down, okay?..." Marisa said, raising her hands apologetically. "I didn't expect him to fight like that in the middle of the village..."

"That is a bit weird, actually." Makoto said, turning the fuming miko's attention to herself. "Normally Hazama wouldn't confront anybody in public, let alone use his [Azure Grimoire]." _Remind me then why did he attack you back in Kagutsuchi..._

"Your point being?"

"Without Relius, Terumi or Izanami to back him up, Hazama can't do much, and even if he still tried to destroy the [Amaterasu Unit], there aren't any real ways of doing so now. It's possible he's acting the way he does because he knows he's screwed and is trying to cause as much damage as possible."

"We still don't know if Terumi is gone for good." Tsubaki said. "He could be still alive and hiding for what we know. Hakumen never said [Time Killer] was unavoidable."

"So we're back to doing this the old-fashioned way." Reimu said, turning towards the exit. "Do you know where he went?"

"Most probably to the mountain. Yuuka-san already went after him." Reisen said again.

"So the cavalry rolled out, huh. Well, it won't hurt to join."

"Hey! What about me, ze?" Marisa shouted when she noticed Reimu was about to leave.

"I told you to stay here and rest. Besides, you said you know what seithr is, so you should know what can happen if you don't treat this."

"Spells blowing up in my face for the rest of the day, big deal." the witch scoffed.

"Actually, you took much more seithr than that. Worst case scenario... you can lose the ability to cast magic." Makoto sighed, making Marisa freeze with a shocked expression.

"What... You mean, no magic at all?"

"Not of the classic kind, at least." I said. "There's still Ars Magus, but you would need to go through standard NOL procedures."

"Some help this would be..." she fell flat on the futon. "Heh... can't get away with everything, as they say..."

"Well... There might be a way..." the squirrel started, making Marisa sit upright once more. "Ars Magus are specifically designed to use residual seithr, but in theory it _should_ prioritize seithr as fuel even if it'd come from the user's body..."

"Hope you know what you're doing. I'll be off, then." said Reimu and left a second later.

"What exactly are you plotting?" I asked Makoto, who smiled in a confidential manner.

"Remember that Grimoire I brought along, Jin?" she asked, and when I nodded, she continued, "I suppose we could loan it to Marisa, but only if you agree with that." Seeing that Tsubaki was about to object, she added, "After all, it is an emergency and you're the highest-ranking officer around."

"It's not something that should be decided on the spur of the moment." I said after a few seconds. "I suppose we could contact Kagura about it and hear his opinion."

"Thanks, guys..." Marisa said. "Y'know... I've been wondering, what is this 'Azure Grimoire' thing you've been talking about, ze?

"A semi-sentient and immensely powerful magical artifact." I said. "And one of mankind's worst mistakes."

* * *

 **\- Eientei -**

Kagura was surprised by how spacious the mansion was, considering that it was built in the middle of nowhere and nobody but rabbits lived there. Flandre tried to 'adopt' a few of them, but a single stern look from Eirin made her reconsider. The NOL general didn't really fault the vampire for such behavior - after being locked up in her own house for half a millenium and leaving it for the first time acting like that was to be expected. It was actually quite heart-warming to see her acting like a normal girl despite her being pretty much a girl with the power of a nuke and a temper shorter than Kokonoe's.

"Frankly, I didn't expect more representatives from your organization to come to Gensokyo, let alone to this mansion." Eirin said when the group finally entered one of the numerous rooms.

"It's a rather complicated matter, I suppose." Kagura said as the three sat down. "As for being here... You must've heard what happened at the SDM. Their head maid was incapacitated and heavily poisoned in the aftermath of the attack." he continued, with Flandre saddening at the mention

"That's very unfortunate." Eirin said. "Did you ascertain what kind of poison it was?"

"Something called seithr." the vampire spoke up, making the Lunarian frown. Her reaction did not escape Kagura's notice.

"...Could you describe the exact symptoms?"

"Total loss of consciousness, pale skin, bloodshot, erratically moving eyes, delirium, wounds don't heal." Kagura repeated what he had read in Jin's report and adding in what Flandre mentioned on the way. "From my experience she would be dead in an hour had nobody found her." he added, to which the Lunarian nodded in acknowledgment.

"Ms. Patchouli and Koakuma placed her in this healing ring so she would survive." the girl said.

"Then we have no time to lose." Eirin said as she stood up, making the two do the same. "Please wait outside, I will meet you in a few minutes."

When the two left the room, they were guided by a rabbit outside of the mansion. Flandre was still a little overwhelmed by the size of the building and how numerous its occupants were, but to her defense, she had spent most of her life locked in a room in the basement. Even then, the vampire had been told about the doctor's abilities, so the hurry she had seen her in made her nervous. Just how great was the danger Sakuya was in? Would she be alright after Eirin finished her work? Or would she be just like one of her toys, broken beyond repair?... Onee-sama would surely try to hunt Hazama down for that no matter where he managed to hide... At least she now knew why Kagura wanted to get a medic as quickly as possible.

Kagura, on the other hand, was curious how exactly Eirin was going to treat terminal seithr poisoning. As far as he knew, there was no way to heal such a state - the only thing that awaited victims was a quick yet painful death. Even more curious was that what Jin wrote in his report about the doctor ended up being very accurate. Lunarians? Something like people living on the Moon should be impossible, but then again, Gensokyo's existence was impossible as well. Intelligence should have still possessed some documents about the Apollo missions - if there could be any info about Lunarians existing, it would be there - but who knows the scope of damage Hazama had managed to cause in his division.

"So? You got what you wanted?" Mokou asked when she saw the two leave Eientei.

"We're going to make a dash to the Scarlet's when the doctor gets here. You're in?" Kagura said.

"Why not?" she shrugged. "Never been there, so might as well do so now."

"Oi! Mokou-san!" somebody shouted from outside the mansion grounds, gaining the group's attention.

"Cirno?" the girl said, genuinely surprised. "How'd you manage to get here?"

"Don't underestimate the fairies!" the girl said, quickly landing near the group. "Eye've been flying like crazy trying to find this place, and here eye am!"

"Sounds like something you really would do..." Mokou muttered, then continued aloud, "Anyway, you're here because...?"

"Eye've heard that Hazama has been seen in the Bamboo Forest all beaten up! Did you see him anywhere?"

"If we did, I'd have beaten the crap out of him already." Flandre said, cracking her knuckles and making Cirno notice her.

"O-okay... w-whatever you say..." the ice fairy said, shivering with fear. A moment later, Eirin joined the group, carrying a medic's bag and a large bow adorned with white ribbons.

"Thank you for waiting... oh, hello, Mokou-san. I suppose it was you who brought this group here?"

"No, they've found this place on their own and I just tagged along." the girl said sarcastically.

"That is indeed what I thought." Eirin said without a slight change in her polite tone, in contrast to Mokou's. "Let us go, then. The sooner we reach the mansion, the better." she added and the group departed.

"By the way, Mokou-san," the doctor asked a few minutes after leaving Eientei, "did you and Princess have one of your battles lately?"

"Nope. Haven't seen her in two weeks lately. Why do you ask, though? Something happened?"

"No, everything is fine, thank you." she said, with Mokou only shrugging in response. Kagura though was interested - he had spent quite some time with women and politics (the two had way too much in common in his opinion) to not know that something was up. After all, what must have happened for one immortal to worry about another?

* * *

 **\- Scarlet Devil Mansion -**

It was already evening when the four (sans Cirno, who claimed she saw a cloud of smoke somewhere above the Human Village and left soon after clearing the Bamboo Forest of the Lost) reached the mansion. Seeing the Lunarian doctor was with them, Meiling let the group through without even asking, though still giving Flandre a wide berth, something that didn't escape Eirin's attention. Once they were inside, one of the fairies guided her to the room Sakuya was in and another guided the rest to the visiting room, where Remilia was already waiting, sitting by a large oak table and drinking what seemed to be tea. Both Kagura and Mokou were sure it wasn't water-based, given who was drinking it.

"Hello, Onee-sama!"

"Good to see you back so quickly, Flandre." the elder vampire said as she stood up from the table and went to the visitors. "You are miss Fujiwara, am I right?"

"Nice to see you remember, Remilia-san."

"It's hard to forget such people." she said, then turned her attention to the only man in the room. "And who might you be?"

"Kagura Mutsuki, General of the Novus Orbis Librarium, head of the Mutsuki family." he said, bowing deeply. "You must be the little missy's sister."

"I am. Thank you for taking care of her." Remilia said, rather intrigued - for some reason, Flan didn't try to attack him the very moment she saw him, so there must have been something interesting about this man.

"The pleasure's all mine." he said with a 'don't thank me'-like smile while Flandre decided to play a game of tag with Mokou. "I'm quite surprised to see Western-styled vampires in Gensokyo."

"We were not born in this land, but moved in here quite some time ago. There are both good and bad sides of this decision."

"Like?"

"The good are that people won't try to hunt us down." Remilia said, noticing that Flandre was flying around the rather large room and trying to avoid Mokou but not minding it for now. "However, there's a problem with our... dietary arrangements."

"I suppose there would be. No humans want their blood drained." Kagura said unflinchingly, which only piqued the girl's curiosity further.

"You talk like you have some experience with vampires."

"I know one personally, but she's a vegan." he said. "While we're on the topic, maybe you know the Alucard family?"

"I've heard of them before we moved in to Gensokyo, but never had a chance to converse with any of them." she said. "Is that vampire you mentioned a member of this family?"

"The only surviving one, I'm afraid." Kagura shrugged, noticing that his two companions have barged out of the room. "I'm sure you would enjoy each others company, though."

"I hope to meet her one day, then." Remilia finished, seeing that Patchouli, who looked even more tired than usual, entered the room with Koakuma. "How is she doing, Patchy?"

"Eirin said that Sakuya will recover. Tomorrow, maybe the day after."

"That's good to hear." the vampire sighed with relief.

"You don't even know, Remi." the magician said, falling into a coughing fit as Koakuma gave her a cup of water. "And who is this man you're talking with?"

"Kagura Mutsuki, NOL general." she repeated the man's introduction, then turned to him, "And a superior of the three who visited us a few days ago, if I assume correctly?"

"More or less."

"Good to know. I'll go to sleep now, Remi. The doctor was adamant that I went and rest as well, so good night to all of you." Patchouli said and left the room, supported by her familiar.

"A friend of yours?" Kagura asked Remilia when the doors closed behind the two. He noticed that the vampire had got her tea from the table in the meantime.

"One of the few, if you count the shrine maiden and the gap youkai."

"Didn't expect Yukari to be the kind to make friends."

"And you are right. In fact, when we came to Gensokyo, I was forced to become an... acquaintance of hers, for lack of a better term."

"Let me guess, because of the blood drinking?" he asked, folding his arms.

"Precisely." Remilia said. "And like most youkai, we first met Reimu during an incident."

"Interesting. Could you tell me about it?"

"I suppose I might as well." she said, gesturing towards the table, then continued when they both took seats, "It was season 118, which would correspond to Outside year 2003, including the... what have you called it? Temporal shift?"

"More like freeze, but it doesn't matter much right now." Kagura said, laying his zweihänder next to the table and making Remilia wonder just how fiendishly strong (for human standards) he had to be to use that slab of metal as a weapon.

"Thank you. As you know, vampires don't react well to sunlight, and spending time in the mansion during the day bored me to no end. So, one day I decided to spread a thick, scarlet mist to block out the sun."

"Don't you think it was a bit selfish?" he chided her jokingly.

"M-many people told me so, and i-in hindsight, it was." Remilia pouted, trying to hide the sudden blush that reddened her cheeks. "Anyway, when Reimu noticed, she came to the mansion, defeated everybody who stood in her way, and brought me down to earth. Literally, even. Then, after I recalled the mist, we shared a cup pf tea and became friends."

"So it is true. If you defeat somebody in Gensokyo, you become friends with them." Kagura chuckled.

"I-I do not see what's so funny here." she pouted again, but quickly regained composure. "And what do you mean by 'it is true'?"

"Nothing special, just had a skirmish with a trio of fairies. They were pretty good, though."

"Looks like it's been a long day for you, then, and I feel quite indebted. Thus, you may stay in the mansion for the night if you want."

"If my blood stays where it is, then why not." Kagura chuckled again, which this time didn't faze the vampire.

"I may be a bloodsucker, but I am not a backstabbing bloodsucker. Try to have some trust."

"Sorry, too many people not to trust these days." he said, walking towards the doors. "Thanks for the offer, by the way."

"There's no need to. One of the maids shall guide you to your room." Remilia said before he left. Indeed, Outsiders became much more interesting than they were when the Scarlet Devil Mansion relocated to Gensokyo, though they still fought between each other. Nevertheless, it would be much better to have an ally, and such an intriguing one as well...

* * *

 **-** **2200/03/09 13th Hierarchical City [Kagutsuchi] -  
**

Lambda arrived at her destination very early, but despite that she didn't feel tired at all. Her task would be tiring enough: she was supposed to locate Litchi Faye-Ling, a former subordinate of Kokonoe at Sector Seven and an MD from a clinic in Orient Town, as well as the Mad Puppeteer, Relius Clover with his son Carl. The older man's name scared her almost instinctively despite hearing it for the first time in her life, but the cat scientist explained to her why - he was the one in charge of the whole Murakumo Unit program, as well as the one supervising the various...tests...they had to undertake. Lambda did not know why NOL wanted from Relius, but did not feel the need to know.

As she was now technically an NOL operative, Lambda wore the same uniform as Noel, though on her request the numbered plaque she had on her own coat was added to the collar. She could still use her armor, now remodeled into a proper Lux Sanctus [Murakumo], but Kokonoe assured her that there would be no need to during this mission. Instead, she was issued a silenced SIG GSR, primarily for self-defense as the branch at [Kagutsuchi] was still heavily understaffed and because of that a number of anti-NOL organizations sprang up in the city during the last two months. Izanami's statement during her abdication added even more fuel to the fire, making them outright hostile. Thankfully, the more rational citizens and Sector Seven sympathizers were trying their best to keep everything in order.

After exiting the airship, Lambda reviewed the city's map once again. Kokonoe said that her best bet for finding doctor Faye-Ling would be enlisting aid of the doctor's friend from Kaka clan, Taokaka. While locating her would be easy - she spent most of her time in the clan's village under [Kagutsuchi] or walking around restaurants in Orient Town and trying to mooch food off their patrons, getting her help could be tricky. For now, Lambda decided that it would be better to visit the village - given the information she had, no Kaka would be up this early. There was a slight possibility of running into Arakune, the Azure-obsessed entity doctor Faye-Ling pursued and which had been brought under professor Clover's control, but according to the Kaka clan it did not engage in combat during the last month. Still, it would be the best to take caution if it was noticed.

Lambda once again consulted the city's map, but there weren't many official entrances to the village, and following the events at the branch in January they were locked 'for security purposes'. Of course, there must have been less obvious ones, or some of the locked entrances were opened by force - otherwise, the information would have never reached NOL in the first place. Given the Kaka clan's poverty, they would most likely try and access eateries and restaurants, which in accordance to the map would make the possible entrance to the village... conveniently near doctor Faye-Ling's old clinic. Without further ado, the now fully-fledged Murakumo Unit left the port

* * *

When it was really needed, even the most lazy Kaka could stay up early in the morning and work. As Lambda saw it, this "hard work" amounted to sleeping in a not-so-obvious hiding spot and periodically waking up to look for people to mooch food off of. She didn't think of herself as an image of wealth, but before she even considered that the hungry catgirl had already grabbed her by her leg.

"I'm sooo hungry, nya... Please feed me..." she wailed, her thick blond braids lying on the pavement and collecting sand.

"Could your name be Taokaka?" Lambda asked politely when she recognized that those were indeed braids, not ropes.

"Where do you know Tao from?" she jumped abruptly, recognizing the Murakumo Unit after a few seconds. "Hey, what are you doing here, flappy-flap?"

It took Lambda a moment before she realized the Kaka warrior was referencing her personal uniform. "I was sent here to find a creature called Arakune. Could I ask you for assistance?"

"The squiggly? No problem! Tao will be your guide!" the catgirl saluted happily, then ran off towards the sewers, dragging the other girl with her.

* * *

 **\- Somewhere in Gensokyo -  
**

"Oi, Seija! The Daily Shit is here!"

"You're so funny, I just can't stop laughing."

"Bite me."

"Last time I did, you ended up in a bed for a week. Still up for it?"

"Just take the damn paper."

"Yeah, yeah... Let's see what the tengu wrote today..."

 **Brawl in the Village!**

 _~The Mysterious Assailant strikes back!~_ ** _  
_**

Yesterday, we've witnessed a devastating battle right in the heart of the Human Village.  
The notorious witch, Kirisame Marisa-san (human) has been soundly defeated by an  
Outsider in a very one-sided match. One of the eyewitnesses, Matsuda Kaori-san (human),  
said, "It looked like Marisa-san was winning, but suddenly he exploded in this cloud of scary  
green energy..."

The trainee physician at Eientei, Reisen Udongein-san (rabbit), who was present  
the whole time, said, "This wasn't a fight to defeat someone. That man fought in a very  
sadistic way, denying Marisa-san any real opportunity to strike. And this sickly haze...  
something was clearly off about it. There's no way a human, even a witch, can win against  
that."

It seems that the attack on Marisa-san isn't the green-haired Outsider's only crime.  
The gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Hong Meiling-san (youkai) confirms him as  
the one who blew up the mansion's clock tower. "He acted really polite back then, but there  
was this strange aura around him... And a few hours after he entered, the clock tower was  
ripped apart."

Although the man's whereabouts are currently unknown, the Tengu Border Patrol has already  
reacted, sending out more squadrons and restricting access to the Youkai Mountain. The road  
to the Moriya Shrine will still be open to the public, but every visitor will be under close  
supervision. There's no doubt that another incident is going to start any second now.

(Shameimaru Aya)

"Seriously? They needed an Outsider to screw themselves up?..."

"What're you muttering about?"

"Haul your lazy ass off the sofa and come here if you want to know, Souja."

"I swear the next time you say shit like that, I'll kill you."

"Yeah, good luck."

"Screw you. What's so important, then?... 'Green haired'?... Seija."

"What?"

"Remember when I told you we'll have to leave this place and do shit?"

"Not at all. When did you ever say that?"

"...Whatever. We're gonna do this now."


	17. Chapter 17

Over a year? Damn, looks like a new personal record. Hope my muse decides to visit more often.

 **Game2002:** I'm not really sure how Hecatia could work aside from being a deus ex machina, but who knows :)

 **ItzABlueWulf:** Besides the writer's block I mentioned above I had about four projects at uni at the same time, in two of which I had to stand in for someone while doing my own work. You can imagine how well that went :/

Holy cow, a mention on TV Tropes? You've made me a happy man, but I'd be even happier if you left a review!

 **Disclaimer: Long live the squirrel power.**

* * *

 **\- 129/05/18 Gensokyo, Great Youkai Forest -**

It felt to Hazama like Scarlet Devil Mansion all over again, but with an ever stronger and more relentless youkai pursuing him and he wasn't running through a man-made labyrinth. He tried every trick in the book: distraction, turning his Grimoire almost completely off, using the strongest concealing Ars and any magical spells he remembered, even _asking_ that girl in the woods for any kind of help. Nothing worked - he felt more and more cornered by the minute. The thought of confronting the youkai crossed Hazama's mind, but he quickly dismissed it. It was one of the very few times he bit off more than he could chew, and a second time in a row to boot. Clearly, this world was on an entirely different level than the outside.

Rushing through the forest, Hazama tried to clear his thoughts and stave off the incoming panic. Why the hell did he try fighting like he did in a place where literally everybody could fight on, if not above his level? That was a thing Terumi would do, but not him. Then again, when that old ghost kicked the bucket, he tried to desperately fuse with him again, though it didn't quite work out... He cursed his luck as he shot out Ouroboros the umpteenth time in the last few hours and made another sharp turn, but his pursuer wasn't thrown off by this at all. A piece of Terumi's mind must have rubbed off on him when Hakumen killed the guy, Hazama thought. Otherwise he wouldn't have done something like attacking people in front of everyone. He wouldn't be able to use seithr in a direct battle like that, either. Why did he start acting the way he did only when he entered Gensokyo, though? It didn't make any sense. Or maybe he had noticed only then...

While he tried to figure it out, his pursuer seemed to finally tire of playing cat and mouse, gaining speed and catching up with Hazama, who decided to stop in a clearing so that he could at least see his adversary under the moonlight. Although surprised by the youkai's rather simple appearance being a rather jarring contrast to the power he detected from her, he still didn't break a sweat.

"Tired yet?" Yuuka asked, making her trademark smile, though failing to visibly scare Hazama.

"Close, but not quite. Youkai should run in marathons, seriously," he tried to joke, though the one in front of him was not amused - at least, not because of his remark.

"But what fun it would be if we won without any effort?"

"You've got a point there... My name's Hazama, by the way," he said, bowing politely.

"I know that already. Kazami Yuuka, pleased to meet you," she said while curtsying, and this time Hazama grimaced for a split second as he remembered what the mansion's gatekeeper said. How was he supposed to fight someone whose strength was on par with the Black Beast?!

"You've got quite a... reputation in this land, am I right?" he said, trying to rein in his not-quite-fear.

"I do. Humans have su~ch imaginations, you know," she said, slowly walking towards him.

"You're right about that, Kazami-san. I-It's sometimes hard to tell what's true and what's not," he stuttered, the youkai making a delicate smile in response.

"Want to find out, then? Don't worry, I won't hurt you... too much," she said in a sing-song tone, unnerving Hazama even more. What good was a life-link in this situation?

"B-Battling isn't really my forte..." Hazama tried to protest, but Yuuka wouldn't have any of it.

"Is it now? I beg to differ," she said as she walked forward, making Hazama back himself onto a tree. "What you did to that witch wasn't 'your forte'? I'd like to see what is, then."

"W-well..." he said sheepishly, trying to think of a way out. Even with an [Azure Grimoire] defeating this youkai would prove very difficult, though if he managed to stay on defense and let the life drain do its way... "I'd say dancing is."

"Dancing?" Yuuka asked, slightly thrown off by Hazama's remark, but quickly going back to her thinly veiled sadism. "Show me how you dance, then," she said, rising into the air and firing a series of danmaku spread shots at him.

 **BGM: Faint Dream ~ Inanimate Dream**

"W-wait, that's not what I meant!" he shouted, running on the ground and trying his best to avoid the initial wave of bullets before taking to the air himself. "Oh, to hell with it! [BlazBlue], activate!"

"So that is your power," Yuuka hummed at the sight of green life-draining runes spreading around Hazama. "It sure will be fun to take a part out of you, like an arm~" she said, punctuating her words with cutting a branch off a nearby tree with the tip of her parasol almost as if by accident.

"What is it with you people?!" he shouted in panic, trying to fire danmaku of his own, but the green-haired youkai deflected it with her parasol and shot even more of her own, encircling Hazama and forcing him to make a quick dive towards the ground, where numerous vines raised by her tried to entangle him. He managed to stop his descent just out of their reach.

"Tut, tut. That won't do, you know. Only the Hakurei miko can defeat me in danmaku," she smiled again, unnerving the man further, and a number of flowers grew from the vines below and around him. The flowers started spitting danmaku, making Hazama frantically fly back and forth to avoid them. "Why don't you try the same thing as you did on the younger vampire?" Yuuka said, chuckling at the view.

"So that's what it's all about? That kid?!" Hazama shouted, trying to catch some breath while dodging danmaku. "That psycho would have killed me!"

"Details, details," Yuuka waved her hand in a dismissive manner, "Then how about that fight with the thief witch? Surely you weren't on the verge of death," she continued to tease, lining up her parasol's tip with Hazama's general position and charging an orb of light. "Or is it that you just like to have fun? If so, then we're a match made in heaven~"

"Unlike some people in this place I don't have a death wish, thank you very much!" he shouted, flying away just in time to avoid getting another Master Spark to the face that day and using the opportunity to land a few danmaku at Yuuka, not that she seemed to care much.

"Hmm, you do seem to dance very beautifully," she chuckled, sending a dense wave of flower-shaped bullets at Hazama, who barely avoided taking a clean hit. "Why don't we dance till the sunrise?"

"I told you, I don't! Have! A death wish!" he shouted again, punctuating each shout with short bursts of knife danmaku fired at Yuuka, but none of them hit her as she evaded most of bullets and deflected the rest with her parasol. Instinctively reaching into his pocket to retrieve his butterfly knives, Hazama noticed a card has appeared there, and as he pulled it out, he noticed that the name written on it was the same as the Spell Card Marisa used against him. The few seconds of distraction resulted in him getting riddled with Yuuka's magical bullets.

"You will find it good not to get distracted in a battle~" Yuuka chimed as she prepared to fire another Master Spark, but Hazama shot Ouroboros at her, swearing mentally at his attention slipping. Although she evaded the chain Hazama used it to quickly fly right behind her, pelting her with knife danmaku as he did, which Yuuka either took without as much as a change in expression or blocked with the parasol, to his ever-growing irritation.

"If you want me to beat you up so much, then why don't we go back to the ground?" he shouted, trying to avoid bullets the youkai fired in retaliation and getting hit by one in his left forearm, numbing him for a short moment.

"Is that so? Once we both land, this will become a one-sided battle, you know~?" she taunted him back, but by now Hazama stopped caring and landed, making Yuuka shrug as she too landed back on the ground. The moment she did, Hazama ran straight at her and, having caught her between two snake spirits, pumped into her body as much seithr as he could generate, almost overloading his Grimoire again.

"How does it feel now, huh? Bet you're loving it!" he shouted as he threw Yuuka up and kicked her away at a nearby tree. He watched her with a satisfied grin, but it changed once again into a scowl as she simply stood up and dusted her skirt off.

"Made me a bit dizzy, but otherwise I'm fine. Was the little sister really this weak?" she asked with the same amused tone, aggravating Hazama even more. She let me hit her, he thought.

"Oh, you'll feel more, bitch-" he snarled, but Yuuka flash-stepped in front of him and slapped him away with the force of a truck, flinging Hazama onto a tree and snapping it - along with his spine - in half. As he rolled off the stump, the green-haired youkai started to slowly walk towards him.

"Ara, such language does not fit a gentleman. I will have to punish you for it, Hazama-kun~" she said with glee, waiting for the man to stop coughing up blood.

The force of impact, sheer pain in his whole lower body and the green-haired youkai's choice of words cleared Hazama's mind very quickly. It was now obvious that his imitation Grimoire was not nearly enough to defeat her, and if he wanted to run away he would need to do so quickly, before Yuuka started to utterly destroy him. Hence, he decided to once again swallow his - Terumi's, he reminded himself - pride.

"I-indeed..." he gasped as he slowly propped himself up on his elbows while trying to stall for time and not choke. "You're right, Kazami-san... I shouldn't have let emotions speak instead of the voice of reason."

"See, you're already much more polite. Such a good boy~" Yuuka chimed, rising into the air once more. "But you know how it is, a crime is always followed by punishment! Let's see... assaulting a harmless girl in public with snake-like appendages and corrupting her with your magical essence? The punishment for that is..." she said as she aimed her parasol at him, charging a Master Spark, "...reducing to a mist of lovely atoms!"

Hazama could now clearly observe the magical energy gathering in front of the green-haired youkai's parasol. The witch from the village was clever to copy this spell, he admitted - the composition allowed for widespread destruction when properly charged even if used by someone with inferior potential to that of the original user. The spell's strength was limited by Spell Card rules, but the problem was that the moment he went physical, those rules have been rendered moot.

In other words, if Yuuka hit him with it, he was toast, [Azure Grimoire] or not. And, if the 13th was any indication, it would take some time for his body to reconstruct, if at all.

"Well... You have me at a disadvantage," he sighed, silently pushing the Grimoire into overdrive to make his legs work at all, any complications be damned.

"An understatement of the century, Hazama-kun~" Yuuka chimed again, the honorific grating at Hazama's ears. "That being said, you had more stamina than other men I've met, maybe sans one," (Could she stop with the innuendos, he thought.) "It's been nice dueling with you," she finished, firing the laser at Hazama. With the rest of his strength, Hazama rolled away from the beam's trajectory, but getting his left arm vaporized from below the elbow, making him all but scream in pain. Despite that, he did not lose consciousness and the Grimoire was still working.

"Damn, that hurt..." Hazama said, trying to steady his breathing. He slowly stood up, waiting for Yuuka to get close enough for him to get in range of the Grimoire. "But as I said... I don't plan on dying here."

"Now that's curious, you didn't faint from that... So many strong Outsiders... for human standards, anyway... and I can't keep a single one for myself," the youkai pouted, walking towards Hazama. "Hmm... I suppose you can have one free strike, then," Yuuka continued when she stood right in front of him, having laid her parasol against her shoulder. "Just please let it be something, not that tickling thing from before."

Oh hell no, he thought. He was not going to get baited this time.

"In that case..." Hazama started, carefully draining just enough magical energy to heal his legs a bit more and restore his own reserves, "what do you think about bondage?" he asked as he used the strongest binding Ars he could muster, surprisingly managing to stop Yuuka in place.

"I didn't knew you were into that. What luck~" she said sweetly, unnerving Hazama once again. A part of him - the leftover from his fusion from Terumi, he reminded himself once again - wanted to follow with more attacks, but the part that wanted to just get out of there right then was stronger.

"That's because I'm not. Ciao!" he said, turning back and running like hell was about to let loose, leaving Yuuka utterly gobsmacked and getting off her radar before she broke through the Ars.

"How many curious people live in the Outside, now..." Yuuka said to herself with a giggle.

* * *

 **\- Human Village -**

Kagura was happy to wake up without any punctures in his neck. Although grateful for her hospitality, he quickly informed Remilia about the business he had with the rest of NOL visitors in Gensokyo and left early in the morning before the vampire could coax him into a favor. Despite the abundance of fairies and such on his way to the village none of them tried to bother him, so he made it pretty quickly. He didn't expect seeing a scene of destruction right at the marketplace. People were cleaning up their stands and collecting various goods lying all around the place, and even a few youkai helped around. One of them was the notorious ice fairy.

"Looking quite busy there, Cirno," he started when she put away last of the numerous crates.

"'Course eye am! Everybody's pissed at what Hazama did here yesterday!"

"Wait, so it was Hazama?" he asked, for once regretting not listening to her. "Looks like this mission just got more complicated."

"When eye find him, eye'll freeze him so hard he'll be a huge ice statue!" she said, posing with her arms folded. Had she not been two feet tall and cute as a button, this could pass for an intimidating pose. Instead, it just looked adorable, Kagura thought.

"Sure you will... Anyway, do you know where's Jin and the rest?"

"Somewhere down that street, third time left... Um, look for the house with a broken window," she said, pointing to one of the alleys.

"Thanks. Good luck with that work," Kagura said, waving his hand to Cirno as he walked away, with the fairy saluting in response. When he turned into the alley, he noticed a young girl, with black, long hair in a hime cut. He didn't really notice what she was wearing - when he looked in her eyes, he thought that not a single girl he had ever met could match the one he was looking at in beauty. Well, maybe besides Noel, but that was another matter entirely. Since he would pass her either way, he approached the girl.

"What is such a beautiful woman doing in a place like this?" he asked, making one of his trademark smiles.

"Taking a walk," she said without breaking her stride or even looking in his general direction.

"Ouch. Cold as ice," he winced, "Well, it was worth a try. Anyway, have you seen a green-haired guy in black clothes?"

"Yes, why do you ask?" she said, this time stopping and turning towards Kagura.

"You know that mess is his fault, right?" he said, nodding towards the demolished marketplace. "Oh, where are my manners. My name's Kagura Mutsuki, and the guy we're looking for is currently charged with crimes against humanity in the Outside. Could you tell me where and when did you see him last time?"

"Crimes against humanity?" she asked, "He did seem shifty, but... It looks like too much of a stretch. If it is not a problem, would you mind clarifying, Kagura-san?"

"Anything for such a cutie," he said, though the girl didn't seem amused. "Long story short, he was heavily involved in orchestrating in civil war and human experimentation."

The girl was horrified by Kagura's words, but quickly composed herself. "To think that a man like this is in Gensokyo... Thank you for informing me, Kagura-san. I saw him enter the village early in the morning, but I don't know anything beyond that. I wish you well in your investigation."

"Thank you, miss..."

"Houraisan Kaguya," she said, this time smiling at him. "I must go now, so if you would excuse me..."

"Not a problem. Take care," Kagura said, leaving the girl and heading further down the alley. He suspected she wasn't fully honest with him, but his gut told him not to anger her. Leaving that thought for later, he continued as instructed by Cirno. Sure enough, he found the house quickly, and as he expected, the window was partially replaced with ice. Entering, he saw Tsubaki, along a blonde witch sleeping on a futon. Jin and Makoto were not there, though.

"I didn't expect you to swing both ways, Tsubaki," he chuckled quietly.

"Don't insinuate such things," she said, somewhat miffed.

"Okay, okay. Anyway, I'm here to talk about you going AWOL on us," the man said.

"I did what I thought to be best at the moment," she responded, a bit too quickly for Kagura.

"Running away when Izanami is one step ahead of us doesn't really count as the best thing, you know," he said, folding his arms.

"I do, but what could happen if Jin and Makoto had been killed here? Especially since miss Rachel said that we are the ones supposed to kill Ragna the Bloodedge," Tsubaki stood her ground, "nevermind that only Jin can stand up to him," she added a moment later, making Kagura sigh.

"I get your point, Tsubaki, but can't you have some faith in your own comrades?" he asked, recalling Remilia's words from the day before. "Youkai aren't really like the Black Beast. Most of them don't attack humans just because, and even if that happened, Jin would be able to repel them. Besides, the Spell Card rules here protect people from youkai. I've seen it in action, it does a damn good job."

"...In that case, I concede my defeat in this argument," Tsubaki said, bowing to Kagura, "What shall be my punishment?" she asked, but Kagura patted her lightly on the shoulder.

"There's no punishment for trying to help your friends. Hibiki would not let me live this down, though, so I'll think about something when it's all over," he said, giving her a reassuring smile, "By the way, where did Jin and Makoto go?"

"They are pursuing Hazama, I believe," Tsubaki said.

"O...kay, so that's two things covered. Now, who's this girl?" Kagura asked again, pointing to the sleeping Marisa.

"One of the resident troublemakers, I've heard. She tried to attack Hazama in the marketplace. We're certain that she contracted seithr poisoning," It seemed weird to the NOL general - was everything Hazama did in Gensokyo poisoning people with seithr? And this girl, she couldn't be strong enough to take on him, unless she had some hidden abilities.

"Well, she's not the first one. Think she should go to Eientei?" he asked, but Tsubaki gave him a slightly puzzled look, prompting him to continue, "We've just been there to fetch the doctor to the guys at the Scarlet Devil Mansion."

"So that maid is..." Tsubaki began. Meanwhile, Marisa woke up, but tried to pretend she was still asleep. She didn't fool Kagura, who nonetheless didn't mention it.

"Alive and well. Honestly, I have no idea what that woman did, but it sure worked quick."

"That's a relief," Tsubaki sighed. "I wonder if Makoto's plan will work..."

"What plan?" Kagura asked curiously.

"She said that we could use Ars Magus to get seithr out of Marisa's body."

"It doesn't really make sense... Seithr doesn't work that way, and she should know it," he said with an underwhelmed expression.

"That's what I told her, but she said how nothing makes sense here," the redhead responded, with Marisa trying very hard not to laugh and Kagura actually doing so.

"Well, haha... That does sound about right. I'm pretty sure that even cold fusion could be performed here."

"How did you come to such conclusion?" Tsubaki asked.

"If you can do the impossible in Gensokyo... Anyway, if she's going to try a non-harmful Ars, then I think we can go through with this."

After chatting with Tsubaki a bit more and leaving, he decided to call Kokonoe, but to his surprise she did not respond, not that he was too miffed by that. Since he had a lot of time to spend and no actual task on hand, Kagura went back to the marketplace to get some more information about this 'pocket world'.

* * *

 **\- 13th Hierarchical City [Kagutsuchi] -**

Lambda woke up in one of the few places in the Kaka Village that still had sunlight, with Taokaka hugging her and numerous other kittens lying nearby. Before she got up and asked the catgirl to take her to the sewers, the Murakumo Unit tried to recall the events of the other day.

The way to the village wasn't what she had imagined: the maintenance shafts looked like they were not only regularly used, but decorated with depictions of a man with a cross-shaped scar on his face, and although she never met him, Lambda thought him to be eerily familiar. When the two actually entered the village grounds, she had been stunned by how lively it looked: every street and alley had been filled with light from lampposts, kittens were running almost everywhere playing tag or some other game, and in the very middle of the village a huge pot filled to the brim with food was being heated. Lambda had to force herself to not ask about a helping or two, while Taokaka was stopped from jumping into the pot and devouring its contents only by perspective of burns. Although the Murakumo Unit had insisted on meeting with the Elder as fast as possible, the Kaka girl's hunger won. Then, after the meal, Taokaka forced Lambda to spar with her... and after that they somehow ended up on the grass patch she woke up on.

For once, Lambda wasn't sure what exactly happened, though Tao didn't look like she could seriously harm somebody without obvious intent of doing so. Still, it felt a little weird sleeping with a total stranger... After a minute, the blonde girl tried to get up, but Taokaka pulled her back down and hugged her even harder, making Lambda sigh in exasperation and try to shake her awake, but to no avail. Talking also wouldn't wake the catgirl up, mainly because she was snoring rather loudly and the Murakumo Unit didn't want to raise her voice. In the end, she resorted to pinching Taokaka on the cheek, which made her jump awake and meow loudly, waking up the kittens.

"Nyaaa! What's... Hey, why did you pinch me, flappy-flap?" she asked, giving Lambda a look of reproach.

"We need to look for Arakune, and you didn't wake up," the blonde girl said in a matter-of-fact tone. Tao rubbed her cheek again and, after the kittens scurried away, took Lambda back to the village to talk with the Elder.

When they entered the elder's house, Lambda took a moment to look around the interior. It was filled with various masks, pendants and woolen cloths, which coupled with the fireplace gave a cozy feeling. The elder herself was sitting by the fireplace, clad in a brown Kaka coat and holding a staff much taller than her.

"Hey, Village Elder! Flappy-flap wants to go find the squiggly!" Tao shouted as soon as they entered, not that it was needed to catch the attention of the elderly Kaka.

"Oh? Good that you brought her here, then," she said as she turned around. "Who might you be, child?" she asked the blond girl.

"NOL operative, codename Lambda," she bowed as she introduced herself as instructed by Kokonoe. "We have been informed that the entity named Arakune has been sighted near this village and wish to capture it."

"We expected much more soldiers, but the city does not like the Library any more," the Elder sighed. "Did they tell you what you will be fighting?"

"There's no need to worry. I am fully informed of this entity's abilities," Lambda said. "If it's possible, then I'd like to commence search as quickly as possible."

"If you insist, then I cannot stop you. While you're still here, Tao, could you look after her?" the Elder said to the other Kaka.

"Nyes, Elder! Taokaka, ready for guard duty!" she said, saluting vigorously.

"Then let's go. We cannot waste any more time," Lambda said, taking Tao with herself and leaving for the sewers.

The area at first wasn't different from what Lambda expected - water ran along the bottom, with grime accumulated near and below the waterline, and the air was very stale. Since she didn't have any map, she had to rely on Tao's beastkin instincts. They had to battle a few seithr-infected lifeforms, though none stood a chance against the Murakumo Unit. After an hour or so of searching, they came across a stone door hidden in the sewer's wall.

"Could it be that they're hiding here?..." Lambda mused, but Taokaka was much quicker in breaking the doors down.

"Nyaaa! Prepare yourself, squiggly, for the wrath of Kaka Village has come to deliver justice unto you!" she shouted, but was quickly silenced by a rather unimpressed Lambda.

"We do not know what else might be hiding here. It is unwise to bring attention to us like that."

"Tao always wanted to say that," the catgirl said with a satisfied smile.

The hidden room was rather large, but not enough to cause significant structural damage to the sewers themselves. There were numerous power cables sticking out of the wall near the far corner, as well as what looked like remains of a large alchemical circle sketched in the middle of the room. Whatever had happened here was proof enough that Relius Clover, his son Carl and Litchi Faye-Ling did hide here for a unspecified amount of time.

There was also another door leading further into the hideout: bedrooms, each for one of the trio, and a small room where a water treatment system was set up. The bedrooms were furnished very sparsely, each containing only a bed and, with exception of one of them, a desk and a chair. Looking around for clues, Lambda found a piece of dense black material, similar to obsidian but much more durable.

"What's that?" Tao asked, looking curiously.

"This could provide answers as to what experiments had been conducted here," the Murakumo said, hiding the black stone in a pocket of her coat and opening a direct channel to Kokonoe. "It is safe to assume that whoever was hiding here is no longer within Kagutsuchi's bounds."

* * *

 **\- [District 1] , Japan -**

The preparations to open the Cauldron and begin smelting the 14th Prime Field Device were about to finish. Most of the equipment in the lab was set up in the large room to be used to isolate the Cauldron from possible interference, mainly from the Kushinada's Lynchpin, though it could fail at any moment - even combined work of Relius and Litchi didn't yield a device that could isolate something so large like the Cauldron and stay stable. Nevertheless, all they required was to put what was about to become the living Prime Field into the Cauldron and leave it for a few days. Relius admitted that it was a bit short time, but given the situation they were already behind the schedule.

The method they used to create the Prime Field's body was novel - it was a mixture of his superb alchemy and the machine he and Litchi finally dubbed 'seithr converter', which despite the much shorter production time allowed it to be virtually indistinguishable from natural humans yet retain the natural resilience of the latter Prime Fields, particularly 13th. As a bonus, they even managed to generate a soul imprint from compressed seithr, although it was still unrefined, hence the need to smelt it and let it Observe itself.

While the blond scientist was as ready as he would be, he still couldn't shake away the feeling of dread. Maybe that was because he was once again in the very place the Black Beast was created, maybe that was because of the Embryo still hanging in the sky near the ruins of [Ibukido]... Maybe that was because, like every human, he instinctively tried to avoid death he was seeking so much now.

And though he wasn't in the best shape, the same could not be said about his son. Knowing that Ada's body was being constructed at that very moment allowed Carl to work almost tirelessly, monitoring disturbances around the Cauldron and reacting accordingly. He reminded Relius of himself in young age, when he was still but a greenhorn beginning to unravel secrets of reality. Perhaps he, too, would be able to realize...

"Barrier stable, temporal distortions at 0,001%. Do you think it's enough?" Litchi asked, looking up from her own screen.

"Is there any outside intervention?" Relius asked her back.

"Not as far as we know. Even the Lynchpin can't intrude at the moment."

"Then proceed. We will not be able to leave the Cauldron open for too long," he said, gesturing at Carl to open the Gate and lower the coffin with the Prime Field's body into the flaming pit below. The coffin, held up by an old-fashioned crane mounted under the lab's ceiling, started to move slowly.

"The Cauldron is open and stable, though the barrier's taking a heavy strain," Litchi reported after a few seconds. Relius nodded in acknowledgement and gestured again at his son to hurry up.

"Temporal cocoon successfully formed," the young man reported after a few minutes, when the coffin has entered the Cauldron and detached from the crane. "The smelting has begun."

"Good. Close the Cauldron as quickly as possible," Relius said, then went to the screen showing footage from inside the coffin. Of course, the view was distorted, but this was the best possible, with the only alternative being leaving the girl isolated, just like every other before her. After a few moments, she slowly opened her eyes, something that Relius didn't expect would happen this fast.

"Where... am I..." she said weakly.

"In the Boundary, the place where all timelines begin and end," he said. It was hard to once more regard a freshly-created soul as a person, but Carl and Litchi insisted - quite strongly - that he did so. "Do not fear. My name is Relius Clover."

"Relius... Clover?"

"Exactly. As you have just woken up, we need to introduce you as a person. Follow my instructions as closely as possible," the blond man continued. "You can see that your body is currently surrounded by an azure aura. That aura is representing your soul," The girl just nodded in response. "We need you to Observe it from as many angles as possible."

"Observe?...Angles?..."

"You must recognize yourself as the person you want to become. This way, your soul will strengthen. The Boundary will provide you with references."

"O...okay..," the girl finished and closed her eyes in concentration. Although Relius knew what happened when inexperienced people tried to Observe something, self-Observation was the easiest kind of it and, being an essential part of creating a personality for both Prime Fields and normal humans, basically impossible to fail. Carl also looked at the screen, making sure that nothing bad happened.

The boy started to feel conflicted inside, given how easily the Prime Fields' - and now also Ada's - bodies could be created, with the same being said about souls. He tried his hardest not to fall for the same temptation that claimed his father and made him think of everybody as little more than objects, machines with the unique ability to feel emotions. And yet, he could feel the thought creeping at the back of his mind - that this girl, too, was ultimately nothing more than a tool to pull Lotte Carmine's soul from the Boundary. At Carl's behest, Relius tried to act towards her like he once did to him and his sister, like he actually considered her to be a person, even thought he obviously didn't and most likely never would.

Would Ada be proud of him trying to bring their father back, or condemn him for his thoughts?

None of them noticed an eye inside a small gap observing them from the far corner of the room.

* * *

 **\- Gensokyo, Youkai Mountain -**

"Think he got far from here?" Makoto asked as we left the forest.

"If he recovered from that fight Yuuka told us about, then it's very possible," I said. "The sooner we find the miko or one of the tengu, the better."

After leaving the village early in the morning, me and Makoto headed straight for the Great Youkai Forest, hoping that somebody had seen Hazama. Hina, and later Yuuka when we caught up to her, confirmed that he was trying to hide in the kappa village, but the latter youkai chased him around the forest and forced him to head towards the tengu territory. She insisted we take her with us, but Makoto was against the idea. Frankly, I too wouldn't feel comfortable if a sadist who can start a fight 'for fun' was walking with us even if she was able to overpower everybody we'd meet.

The vampire would surely be amused by such irony. Trust me, Rachel, I am perfectly aware of how I look and act around Nii-san. Your comments do not help.

"Hmm... Do you think tengu know sign language?" Makoto asked. I just shrugged, so she pulled out of her backpack a roll of paper, a brush and some ink and started writing. When she was finished, she raised the sign above her head and started to turn around slowly.

"You seriously think the tengu will notice something like that?" I asked.

"Don't worry, Jin, I know what I'm doing!" she said. After a few minutes, I saw a faint black outline making a beeline for our position; it quickly turned out to be the annoying tengu reporter.

"Shameimaru Aya, reporting for duty!" she said after landing, with a cocky smile and a mock salute. "Gotta say, the watchdog is doing a good job for once. Anyway, what's the problem?"

"We believe Hazama to be lurking around the Youkai Forest," I stated, but Makoto quickly took the conversation from me.

"Do you think we could stay on the mountain for some time and look around for him?"

Aya slumped slightly. "First the lazy miko, now you? Chief's gonna skin my ass if he finds out. I'll try to help, but nothing's free, y'know?"

"Hazama is NOL's responsibility, so should any conflict happen, I'll take care of it," I said.

"And... the payment?" the tengu asked. I could easily see her fingers twiddling, as if she was holding a pen. _Over my dead body._

"I'll see what I can do," Makoto flashed a mischievous smile. "I know a guy who loves talking with girls."

"Ooh, you got me interested," Aya said, readying herself to jot down any info.

 _I can see where this is going. Kagura, may God have mercy on your soul._

"He's very easily recognizable. He's got this huge slab of metal he calls a sword-"

"Does he have long black hair?" Aya asked quickly, surprising both me and Makoto.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" the squirrel said.

"And wears bandages on his arms?"

Makoto simply nodded.

"And walks with his shirt wide open?"

Another nod.

"And has a badass cape?"

And another. "Where did you meet him?"

"Scarlet Devil Mansion!" Aya almost squealed with joy. How does that man do it, I do not know to this day. "He's a total stud!" she said, making Makoto facepalm equally in embarrassment and exasperation.

"To the point, tengu," I said. "Where is Reimu?"

"No need to be so rude, sheesh," she said, calming down. "She went to the Moriya shrine for now. If you want, I can show you a shortcut."

"How do shortcuts work on a mountain?..." Makoto asked with a flat voice.

"Details, details! Follow me!" she said and ran off, with the two of us following. "How did you know Inubashiri could see you, anyway?" she asked when we caught up.

"Read it from one of the books I borrowed. Gensokyo Chronicle, Vol. 9, I think," Makoto said.

"Gensokyo Chronicle?" Aya asked. "Good choice, then. It's the best way of gathering info without actually getting into contact with youkai," _Unlike your newspaper_. "Maybe you've met her, by the way?"

"There was no time for such trivialities," I said.

"Bummer. I hoped you could get some scoop," the tengu said in a dissatisfied tone, though did not slow down. "Hey, Jinjin-"

"You will refrain from calling me by this name," I said forcefully. Aya started rubbing her forearms.

"Gee, is it only me or did the temperature drop just now?"

Makoto rolled her eyes in amusement. "Brings back memories, doesn't it, Jin?"

"Please, Makoto, not you too," I muttered quietly, but the tengu turned around towards us, notebook and pen in hands, while still flying. Backwards.

"Hmm, could you elaborate, Nanaya-chan?"

"Oh, sure," Makoto said, smiling mischievously. "It goes way back to our time in the Military Academy..."

I sighed. Here we go again...

* * *

A shower was a necessity by that point, Hazama thought. After running away from Yuuka, he managed to stow way near the small youkai village near the river, though the fragment of Terumi's mind urged him to cause havoc even there. It was slowly becoming unbearable, even worse than when they were fused more properly. Nevertheless, the youkai found him and he had to flee again, towards the mountaintop. And that's even without mentioning his improperly healed spine and legs, which made him move slowly and awkwardly. It wasn't a big surprise to him that he felt observed once again.

"Alright, let's cut to the point. Who's there?" he asked tiredly, and when no one answered, he repeated, "I know you're looking at me, so you could at least give me your name," Still, nobody was coming, so Hazama continued on trudging back towards the forest. It didn't surprise him that a white wolf tengu armed with a rather nasty-looking scimitar and a large shield jumped out of the trees.

"I would bow to you, but as you can see, the Sleeping Terror made a good work of rearranging my bones and taking my arm this night. The name's Hazama."

"We know of you already," the tengu said, "and by the order of Lord Tenma, you are to be punished."

"It's not like I don't deserve this a hundred times over, anyway... or at least, that's what I'd like to be able to say in good faith," he chuckled.

"What you displayed is anything but."

"Well, that is true. But you know, I really did what I had to do there. Kirisame made me."

"There is no excuse for brutally attacking either people or youkai in the middle of the day outside the Spell Card rules," the tengu scowled at him.

"Which means I'm screwed either way," Hazama sighed, raising his hand in front of himself and projecting a rune circle. "Okay then, after you. [BlazBlue], activate," he continued, trying hard to not allow Terumi's personality to take him over.

 **BGM: Fall of Fall ~ Autumn Waterfall**

The tengu started by rushing towards Hazama and slamming him with her shield, which the green-haired man dodged by sidestepping and, oddly for the youkai, pirouetting. He tried to throw a few knives at her exposed side, but she slashed at his arm quickly enough to make him reconsider the idea. The Grimoire was already working, straightening his spine, mending his legs and regrowing his burnt arm at the expense of his opponent's rather sizeable life-force. The tengu seemed to notice the drain, since she backed off and send a few danmaku at Hazama, which he parried with Ouroboros.

"What is this... How can you block danmaku?" she asked.

"No idea," he shrugged with a false smile. "It just happened."

"Cut the crap, Outsider. Who are you and what business do you have in Gensokyo?" she asked, baring her fangs.

"Ooh, scary, scary," Hazama said in a mocking tone. "I don't suppose saying 'to see the sights' would satisfy you, no?"

Realizing that ranged fighting was effectively pointless, the tengu ran in Hazama's direction once again, noticing that he fired his chain at her. She quickly brought up her shield, hearing the clank of metal striking metal, but immediately felt the man's breathing on her back.

"Boo."

She reacted a bit too late - when she was bringing up her sword to strike him, Hazama was already unleashing a flurry of slashes, first by making a cross cut over her back, continuing with a vertical slice and a horizontal one across her ankles, tripping her (her sandals didn't help) and finishing with a strike with dark energy, throwing her a few meters to the front. She noticed that the wounds didn't begin to heal immediately, but she was actually getting more tired simply by being around this man.

"You should watch your back next time, okay?" Hazama asked, his body fully healed. Without waiting for a response, he moved into a stance, gathering seithr in his left arm outstretched behind his back while leaning forward a bit, laying his right hand on his leg. The tengu slowly got up and once again rushed at the man, this time sidestepping the moment she saw him slightly shift his stance. Hazama noticed this, immediately jumping at her and binding her with Ouroboros, which made her float off the ground a bit.

"No hard feelings, honestly," he said, bringing her to the ground with a seithr-powered axe kick and stomping on her body like a jackhammer, then finishing with a roundhouse that made her tumble away. The tengu managed to stabilize herself mid-flight, landing back on her feet and raising a large amount of dust.

"You are strong for a human, Hazama," she said after steadying her breath.

"Thank you, I guess," he said as he dusted his clothes off. "But I guess you're not the only guard around, so I have to take care of you quickly. Eternal Coils of the Dragon Serpent!" he shouted, trying to bind the tengu once again, but she jumped high into the air - wisely, since a binding Ars appeared where she was standing moments before - and came down crashing on Hazama before he realized his attack failed. She followed up with a shield bash which threw Hazama further off-balance, then a vicious slash across his chest and finally a bite aimed for his neck, Luckily for him, the green-haired man jumped away at the last moment.

"Damn it, that was my best suit!" he cried with mock fury. "Oh well, screw it. Ouroboros!" Hazama shouted, making his Nox quickly shoot at the tengu and forcing her to block again. She turned around as soon as she heard the clank, but she found herself bound by a spell instead.

"It doesn't work that way all the time. Guess this one's for me!" he smiled, pulling the tengu towards himself with Ouroboros and slashing her multiple times, finishing with a throw. Noticing she didn't get back up for the moment, Hazama quickly ran back towards the forest. He couldn't stay here, either, meaning he had to go either to the underworld... or leave Gensokyo for the time being.

* * *

A figure, clad in regal robes, stood in front of the Unit.

The Unit opened. But nobody was inside.

The figure smiled.

Then, all life in the world was transported into the Embryo.


End file.
